Autumn Changes
by Accio Lumos
Summary: Four years ago, E&D met and fell in love. Three years later, E is a single mother with a teaching career while Darcy is living up to his dad's wishes. With secrets revealed and schemes being prepared, will they get their second chance? THIS STORY IS COPYRIGHTED!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** I'd like to thank any one who decides to give this a read, this is a concept that I've been toying with for a few weeks after a conversation I had with a friend who also writes fanfiction and she gave me the idea to turn it into another modern day AU story involving E&D and like the original story by the wonderful JA the story will be based on misunderstandings. I will also warn you now that there is a lot of scheming and secrets being kept in this story so I don't want you to hate on that fact too much especially with regards to Darcy at how he may come across in the beginning; so please don't review saying that 'Darcy wouldn't do that' or 'Darcy isn't like that' because there will be an explanation behind everything that happens.

 **Disclaimer:** I own nothing and make nothing writing these fics, the only thing that belongs to me are original characters of my own creation and the story idea.

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At three o'clock on the dot that Friday afternoon, the bell that signalled the end of the school day rang and the class of thirty ten year olds that Elizabeth Bennet taught at Meryton Primary School bade goodbye to their teacher and ran out of the classroom and into the playground to meet their waiting parents. With her classroom now empty, she laughed to herself that it was going to be quite a long weekend of lesson plans.

Elizabeth Bennet was twenty-two years old and had taught at Meryton Primary for a year since she had graduated from the University of Hertfordshire in Primary Education and Teaching. It had been a challenge, having to juggle the long drives to the University for lectures and exams whilst also looking after her three year old daughter Rose. Being a single parent was the most challenging yet most rewarding experience that she had been through and to this day she was grateful for the amount of time that her father had helped her in looking after daughter so that she could attend university.

When she had discovered that she was pregnant with Rose there had been a lot of confusion. The father, or the father's father to be more precise, wouldn't allow her to speak with her boyfriend and had sent her off in a taxi with a cheque written for one hundred thousand pounds; on the condition that she never contact her boyfriend again. To this day she had no clue whether her ex-boyfriend knew about their daughter but she had gotten over the decision that Reginald Darcy had made for his son a long time ago; if the Darcy's didn't want to be apart of her daughter's life it was their loss, not Rose's. So she had torn up the cheque, returned to Longbourn after spending an amazing summer with William Darcy in Spain after meeting at the bar her Uncle Ed owned and decided that she was going to keep the baby.

Her parents had been a little against their eighteen-nearly-nineteen-year-old daughter having a child whilst she was due to start her second year at university. Her mother had told her that her life would go down the toilet if she kept the baby, that she wouldn't have the career she wanted nor the time to go out with her friends but Lizzy didn't care about that. The university she attended was only a forty minute drive from Longbourn, she had access to a car and had passed her driving test at seventeen so that wasn't an issue. The money that she had received as a result of her parents saving money in a bank account for her since she was born had been left untouched and she would have to do a lot of shifts at the restaurant she worked at in Meryton to ensure she saved a lot of money for the baby but she was determined to make the situation work. After a lot of arguments with her mother, she threatened to move out and stay with Charlotte for a while until she could get sorted. Eventually, Mr Bennet said that it was her life and he would support her, he had retired early and would love to help her with childcare.

Luckily, her second year of university consisted of her being pregnant and she was able to complete her exams before she gave birth to a little girl. When a little girl had been born weighing six pounds thirteen ounces, she had taken a picture of her newborn daughter and text it to William's number; she never received a reply. She guessed he had changed his number or he had deleted the text after seeing it was from her; whatever the reason, William Darcy hadn't been in touch.

After clearing up her classroom, she switched off the lights and pulled her bag on to her shoulder. Elizabeth bade goodbye to some of her colleagues and left via the reception. As she was walking down the slope, she knelt down and smiled when she saw a three year old girl with dark brown curls running towards her.

"Mummy, Mummy!" the girl laughed happily, throwing her little arms around Lizzy's neck and hugging her tightly.

Lizzy reciprocated, lifting her daughter off the ground and standing up as Rose's little legs wrapped around her abdomen. This was always the best part of Lizzy's day, being greeted so happily by the little girl she loved more than anything. As Lizzy walked down the slope, still holding Rose in her arms, she was greeted by a grinning Jane and Charles.

"We let her run on ahead, she was too excited to see her Mummy." Jane explained.

"That's okay, has she been good?" Lizzy asked.

"Well behaved, she has Charles wrapped round her little finger." Jane laughed.

Lizzy looked at her sister's boyfriend with an eyebrow raised.

"Rosie, did Uncle Charlie spoil you?" Lizzy asked.

The little girl sat on Lizzy's hip and nodded, looking at her favourite Uncle with a goofy grin.

"She may have been taken to a park, had lunch out and we stopped by the sweet shop." Charles replied.

"What else did you get up today?" Lizzy asked.

The three adults began to walk away from Meryton Primary, with Rose lifting Jane's left hand up to show Lizzy something that hadn't been sat on her finger that morning. Lizzy's eyes widened as she looked at the diamond ring that sat on her sister's hand to the wide grins on her sister and Charles's faces.

"Jane...is that what I think it is?" Lizzy asked quietly.

"Yes!" Jane squealed, "We're getting married!"

Lizzy pulled her sister in for a hug and then went for Charles too, feeling so happy for her sister and Charles. Jane had met Charles three years ago when he had hired her to help redesign his family home at Netherfield Park. Charles owned a few businesses up and down the country, from restaurants to cafes to investing in retail and when her sister had spent three months redoing the manor on Charles's family estate, the two had been inseparable ever since.

"Congratulations, have you told anyone else yet?" Lizzy asked.

Charles laughed, taking Rose from Lizzy and placing the little girl on his shoulders, "Only you and Rosie, we're going to tell the Bennet clan when we get back." he replied.

"I can already hear Mum's excited squealing." Lizzy mused.

"We're thinking of hosting an engagement party next weekend at Netherfield, you don't have plans do you?" Jane asked.

Lizzy shook her head, "Other than lesson planning, I'm otherwise free." she replied.

"Great!"

Charles walked on ahead of the two of them as they took the lane back to the village to pick up a bottle of wine to celebrate with the Bennet family. Lizzy watched as her daughter ran her fingers through Charles's red hair and heard the sound of melodious laughter coming from Rose when Charles spun around. Rose laughed Charles, he made a very good Uncle.

"So tell me...how did he do it?" Lizzy asked.

"Well, we were walking round the grounds at Netherfield. His sisters had gone to London for the day so it was just the two of us and we stop in front of this massive oak tree-"

"The one where he bet that I couldn't climb to the top of?" Lizzy interrupted.

Jane nodded and smiled in memory of the time when Rose was four months old, they had been having a barbecue in early September at Netherfield when Charles pointed out the oak tree and said he had tried to get to the top of it as a teenage boy but had failed due to the fact he had fallen out of it. Lizzy had told him that she climbed trees all the time as a child, their mother had always said she was born a monkey but in human form, and could climb it. Charles had sniggered and said it was impossible and that only fuelled Lizzy's desire to prove her sister's boyfriend wrong. Needless to say, Elizabeth had climbed to the top of the tree with ease and Charles was forced to pay up the fifty quid as a forfeit.

"The very one. We had carved our initials into the wood on our one year anniversary and on the ground there was a large tray of tea-lights writing out the question 'marry me?' and as I looked from the tray back to Charles again, he was kneeling in front of me presenting the ring." Jane gushed happily.

"That's a really nice gesture." Lizzy smiled.

"It took me a minute to process the fact that I wasn't dreaming and I may have squealed at him as he put the ring on my finger and then we..."

"I don't need to know that detail." Lizzy laughed as Jane blushed a light pink.

"Well we went to pick up Rosie from pre-school and then we told her she could be a flower girl." Jane replied.

"I'm really happy for you Jane." Lizzy said, hugging her sister tightly.

The two carried on walking and met up with Charles as he came out of the shop.

"You'll be my maid of honour, won't you Lizzy?" Jane asked.

"I'd love too!" Lizzy replied excitedly.

The two sisters hugged again before walking at the same pace as Charles who still had Rose on his shoulders. They walked down the country lanes, past the church and met with Lydia who was on her way home from sixth form. When the entire family was gathered in the living room with Mary and Kitty joining in on the family meeting on two laptops via skype, both having recently returned to their universities to start their final and second years, Jane and Charles announced their news of the engagement. The entire house was in an uproar of squeals, with Lydia asking to be maid of honour only to then sulk when Jane said that Lizzy had already agreed to the position, Kitty demanded to be a bridesmaid and Mary muttered a mere 'Congratulations, I won't wear a pink frilly dress.' whilst Mr Bennet kissed his daughter's cheek and shook his future son-in-law's hand.

Mrs Bennet, as predicted, was the most excited out of the Bennet family. Finally, the matriarch would get to see one of her daughter's married and started to discuss potential wedding venues and colour schemes for the Bennet-Bingley wedding.

"Oh and you have to start having children soon after the wedding, you don't want to be in your thirties and having a child and at least I would get a grandchild who isn't a bastard-"

"I apologise Mother if having a child out of wedlock in the twenty-first century is a disappointment to you." Lizzy said.

The room went quiet.

"Oh Elizabeth, of course I love our little Rose. She's a beautiful little girl, she certainly doesn't get those brown eyes and curls from you-"

"Having a child out of wedlock these days isn't as uncommon as you think. As for her looks, I take no credit. Rose takes after her father in that way."

"And her itchiness to explore and her curiosity lead her to be mischievous like her Mother." Mr Bennet laughed.

Lizzy smiled at her Dad, out of both of her parents it had always been her Father who was more devoted to Rose; mostly for the fact that Lizzy was Mr Bennet's favourite and where Rose had her Mother's personality, Mr Bennet had a soft spot for the little mischief maker. As if on cue, Rose was stood next to her grandmother's knitting when the little girl sneezed three times and wiped the bogey that came out of her nose on to her grandmother's knitting. Mr Bennet chuckled as he picked up his granddaughter and took her out of the living room, even Lizzy and Jane smiled as Mrs Bennet complained at what the three year old had done.

"Rose is just like you Elizabeth, determined to annoy me to no end by anything that you do!" Mrs Bennet shrieked.

Rising from her seat, "She's not being told off for that. You deserved it, you shouldn't have made that comment about Rose being a bastard and nor do I need a reminder of how she came to be in this world. The sooner you accept the fact that your daughter got pregnant at nineteen, kept the baby and raised said baby into the amazing little girl she is and still managed to go to university and get a job to support her daughter, the better it will be for everyone!" Lizzy snapped.

Mrs Bennet looked a little flustered at being told off by Elizabeth but as she stormed out of the living room, Lizzy didn't care what more her mother had to say on the subject. Right from the start her mother had never approved of her decision to keep Rose, stating that raising a child wasn't easy and that she'd be throwing her life away if she raised a child on her own. Of course, Lizzy knew that raising a child was hard but from the moment she had felt her little girl move inside of her, she had loved her instantly and knew that she could do it. It took sacrifice, going without things she needed so that Rose had something she wanted instead and being a single parent was quite the challenge but she realised that giving up boozy weekends with her university friends to long weekends playing and spending time with her daughter meant more to her. Lizzy knew that she was lucky, with the help of her father and Jane, she was able to keep her education going and passed her degree.

Raising a child without the father was difficult, Rose had the Darcy look mostly. Those brown eyes and brown curls she had inherited from William but luckily her little girl hadn't inherited the Darcy pride. Once she was outside her family home, she walked through the gardens and sat on the grass that had been freshly cut that morning. It would be the last time that the grass was cut, her father usually kept the gardens tended between March to September and now that the autumn would soon be upon them, she was going to miss the smell the freshly cut grass brought.

She was joined by Jane minutes after her departure from the living room, her sister took her hand and squeezed it lightly.

"Don't take Mum's words to heart Lizzy, we all love Rose. Mum just has her own opinions and I told her that she should be proud of the way you raised Rosie without the help of the father." Jane said softly.

Lizzy smiled slightly, "She's the best part of me. I can never be ashamed of how she came to be in this world." she replied.

"You've never told us much about the father, you've never even told us his full name."

She looked at her sister and sighed heavily, "It gives me too much pain when I think of Will. His father especially. I don't know whether Will knows about our daughter but he's never been in touch and my attempts to get in touch with him when Rose was born went unanswered. If he does know about Rose, it's his loss not hers, they don't get to see how wonderful my daughter is." Lizzy replied.

"Rose is wonderful, nobody can fault that. I just want you to know, Lizzy, that no matter what happens I'm proud of you. You could have terminated the pregnancy and continued at university but you chose to carry on with the life you and someone else created. You've worked hard and with the help of Dad and myself, you were able to get the career you've always wanted and raised a child at the same time, that can't have been easy-"

"I'm grateful to the amount of time that you and Dad have put in to helping me raise Rose, looking after her when I had to go to uni lectures and exams, collecting her from pre-school and looking after her whilst I'm working. I just hope that I can save up enough money to get us our own home and that everything I do will be enough for her." Lizzy sighed.

"It's my pleasure to look after my gorgeous niece, she's a well behaved child for the most part. She takes after you though, climbing trees when she isn't supposed to, sneaking off to the stables at Netherfield, feeding the dogs when they've already been fed. Rosie is a little mischief maker but she's a happy and well loved child, she has everything that she could possibly want."

"Everything except a Dad."

Jane patted her on the shoulder, "You tore up that cheque and that man has had plenty of opportunities to get in touch. Personally, I feel that maybe he was scared about what his father might do. From what you have said, Will's father was always against his relationship with you and maybe he just wanted to keep his father happy and Lizzy, that doesn't make him a bad person."

"He isn't a bad person. after we fell in love with each other I knew that he was the best man I'd ever know." Lizzy agreed.

Jane smiled, "Then don't fret over the situation you found yourself in. The decision was made and you're doing the best you can, that's all you can do. One day, you'll find someone else to love and they'll love Rose as if she were their own child."

"I'd like that one day." Lizzy said with a smile.

The two sisters sat on the grass for a little longer until Charles came out of the house to inform them that dinner was being served in the dining room. Putting her thoughts of William and her unexpected pregnancy four years ago to the back of her mind, she followed her sister into the house and prepared herself for more of her mother's ideas for wedding planning.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Thank you for all your reviews so far, I liked reading your thoughts on chapter one. Some of you seem confused about how E&D haven't been able to contact each other so let me clear that up for you, Reginald Darcy forbade Elizabeth from ever contacting their family again hence why he gave her the cheque even though she tore it up. They only spent a few months together and only swapped numbers. I can't reveal too much to you now because there would be no point in carrying on this story so I hope that if you continue to read as this story progresses that it will become clear.

As for how often I will be updating this story, the answer will be every weekend at some point as is the same with Never What They Seem if you've already started reading that story.

Anyway, here is chapter two and please review.

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It may have only been September, but Autumn had come early to Pemberley. The leaves were already turning a rich red or a golden yellow or a light brown and some had fallen on the woodland paths and turned crispy underneath a foot. The mornings and evenings were starting off a little chillier than normal too, causing the staff on the estate to start changing over the duvets from the summer ones to the winter ones so that nobody complained of the chill.

Fitzwilliam Darcy woke that Saturday morning to the smell of bacon frying in the kitchen, the scent drifting through the large manor house and entering his bedroom; the smell filling his nostrils that it immediately made his mouth water for one of Mrs Reynolds's fry ups. He sat up in his four poster bed, stretching his arms out wide to see that the other side remained empty. It wasn't unusual for Eleanor to rise before him on the weekend, she liked to keep herself busy. The empty side of the bed smelled like her; coconut shampoo that she liked to use when she showered.

Leaving his suite of rooms, he walked through the house until he reached the dining room where Mrs Reynolds was already serving a full English breakfast to his father and girlfriend as he entered the room. He greeted his father with a nod of the head and placed a tiny kiss to his girlfriend's cheek before sitting in his usual seat opposite Eleanor. His eyes met the sharp blue ones of his girlfriend and he smiled, he had always thought Eleanor rather pretty; with long blonde hair and blue eyes that lit up whenever she saw him. They had been in a on-off relationship since their first year together at Cambridge but now they had been together properly with no breaking up for three years and she had got a job as a lawyer whilst he completed his master's degree.

He thanked Mrs Reynolds as she served him a plate of food and started to eat, listening to the conversation that Eleanor and his father were having about Georgiana and his father's hopes that he would propose soon; the usual conversation that his father brought up each weekend when they spent any sort of time together, but to do it in front of Eleanor was adding to the pressure. In truth, he wasn't ready to propose to her yet, despite having known Eleanor for the past six years of his life. His relationship with Eleanor was comfortable, they were in a nice routine now that they lived at Pemberley together and he wasn't sure if he was ready for that to change just yet.

"So, how is Georgie?" William asked.

"She's fine, she's settled in at boarding school. Georgiana is trying to persuade me to join some website called Facebook or something." Reginald replied.

William took a mouthful of bacon as he rolled his eyes. For about five years now his little sister had been trying to persuade him to join a social media website. But he didn't see the point of it, after completing his bachelor degree and now his masters degree a year ago and ever since he had been running the family's estate agent business, he didn't have the time to sit behind a screen and 'update his status' whatever that meant. He liked to spend most of his free time with his girlfriend.

"For some businesses, social media can actually rise profits." Eleanor added.

"My dear, our business is doing quite well." Reginald replied.

"I know that. Fitzwilliam, can we spend the afternoon together?" Eleanor asked.

Nodding his head, he swallowed the last mouthful of his breakfast and took a large gulp of orange juice. Before he could ask his girlfriend what their afternoon would entail, his phone beeped on the table. William picked it up and swiped the screen, smiling to see that the text message was from his best friend.

 _Proposed. I'm getting married!_

"Who is it, Fitzwilliam?" Reginald asked.

He looked up from his phone, "Charles. He's getting married." William replied.

"Oh that's great!" Eleanor squealed.

His girlfriend always liked a wedding.

"To the interior designer? What was her name again?" Reginald asked.

"I think her name is Jean or Jane or something and yes, she's the interior designer." he replied.

Eleanor laughed, reaching across the table and patted his hand.

"Her name is Jane, darling. It's quite bad that in the three years that Charles has been dating this girl, you don't even know her name." Eleanor pointed out.

"It's not my fault. Charles doesn't exactly bring her along when we meet up-"

"And nor do you make the effort to meet her."

To be fair, it wasn't that William didn't want to make the effort to meet the woman his best friend was head over heels in love with. He had heard about Jane every time his best friend visited and knew that they only lived three miles apart from each other but if he went to the effort of meeting Charles's girlfriend, it meant that he would have to stay at Netherfield. And whilst Netherfield was quite a nice estate, it meant having to avoid the wandering hands and cringe worthy chat up lines from Charles's little sister Caroline. And Caroline Bingley was the main reason why he declined his best friend's invitations to stay at the Bingley family home.

"I suppose I should call him." William said.

"Tell him we send our congratulations." Reginald replied.

Standing up, he gave his girlfriend a parting smile and exited the room. He could already hear the new conversation that his father had started with his girlfriend, the usual of 'I hope my son proposes soon' and 'It will be yours and Fitzwilliam's turn to walk down the aisle next my dear, I'm certain of it' and rolled his eyes. As much as he loved Eleanor, he wasn't ready to propose yet. They had only moved in together four months ago and whilst they had gotten into a lovely routine, he still wasn't ready to take that step.

He walked down the hall and entered the study, sitting behind the desk as he dialled his best friend's phone number.

"Darcy." Charles greeted enthusiastically.

"Bingley, congratulations on the engagement." William replied.

"Thank you, I can hardly believe it. I'm the luckiest man in the world!"

William smiled, his best friend always had been a hopeless romantic when it came to this girl.

"I'm thrilled for you Bingley."

"We're holding an engagement party at Netherfield next Saturday night, you and Eleanor are invited to come and stay if you're able to."

As much as he wanted to let out a frustrated groan at that moment, he held it in. William knew he could hardly say no, even if he didn't want to spend an entire weekend in the same house as Caroline, he couldn't not be there at his best friend's engagement party.

"Of course we'll come. I'm sure it will be nice to finally meet the mysterious Jane." William replied.

"You can come on Friday if you're able to or Saturday morning if not. Stay the night."

"Thank you Bingley, I'll let Eleanor know."

"Bye Darcy."

The phone call ended and William left the study and went to his bedroom to change out of his pyjamas. As he took of his top and chucked it to the floor, he opened his wardrobe and picked out a t-shirt to wear, only for it to fall off the hanger and to the base of the wardrobe. Bending down to pick it up, he saw the little white shoebox that he hadn't looked at in a long time.

Curiosity got the better of him, he should have thrown out the box when he and Eleanor got back together but he couldn't let the memories go. Picking up the box, he wiped away the thick layer of dust on the lid and opened it, sitting on the bed as he picked up the contents on the box. It was mostly photographs of him after finishing his bachelor degree at twenty-one and deciding the spend the summer at their holiday home in Spain. Having graduated early, he had spent from the end of May to the middle of August with a girl he had met in a bar. A beautiful eighteen year old named Elizabeth Bennet. Of course, they hadn't gotten off to a good start.

She had been working in her Uncle's bar and had tripped over a stool and spilled a beer down him and he being the idiot that he was, called her a stupid cow. The next night he had come back to apologise to her and they had gotten to know each other better. By the end of June he had fallen in love with her, had made love to her in his hotel room after a romantic meal on her uncle's yacht and then asked her to return to England with him to meet his family. Elizabeth turned nineteen in the second week of August and they had gone to his family home in Chelsea to meet his sister and father.

But then it had all gone downhill. He had gone out one afternoon to buy school supplies with Georgie and returned to his father telling him that the girl had accepted a one hundred thousand pound cheque from him and wouldn't be seeing her again. William had felt devastated, that the girl he had fallen in love with and the only girl who had insisted she pay her half of everything that they did, had been after his money the whole time. That the things they had shared, the secrets they had told each other were all lies.

 _"She's a good actress, I'll give her that," his father had told him, "My boy, she wasn't the one for you. A little summer fling was all she was."_

But she hadn't felt like a summer fling. He had never felt the way he felt about her with anyone else. And so, by September, he had turned twenty-two and started his masters degree and resumed his relationship with Eleanor by Christmas and ever since, he had tried to forget about the girl who had broken his heart.

The pictures showed how happy he had thought they were, several of them pulling funny faces or a couple of them kissing but the look in those green eyes of hers showed how much she cared for him. Was it all a lie? He had wanted to contact her and demand an explanation but his father had talked him out of it, after all she had taken that cheque and if that didn't prove what she was like, his father didn't know what else would. His father had always said he had given her the cheque as a test and her taking it showed that she had failed to prove that she wasn't a money grabber.

There were a few shells in the box that they had found on their first date after walking along a sandy beach close to her uncle's villa. That summer had been the best of his life and even now, four years later, he wasn't ready to let go. He sometimes thought about Elizabeth, wondering if she was telling the truth about her teaching degree and if she had been in a teaching job by now, she'd be twenty-two now. Well, whatever she was doing; he hoped that she had gotten her money's worth to walk away from him.

Sighing heavily, he placed the contents back into the shoebox and shut the lid and put it back in it's place in his wardrobe. He didn't know why he wasn't able to let go of a box of memories but a part of him still ached for the way that Elizabeth had ended their relationship. If anything he wished that she had given him the opportunity to say goodbye and go their separate ways because at least then, he would be able to stop wondering how things went wrong.

William pulled on the t-shirt and shut the wardrobe door, pulling on a pair of jeans as Eleanor walked into the bedroom.

"Shall we head out?" Eleanor asked.

"Where are we going?" William asked, zipping his jeans up.

"I thought we could go for a drive an a bit of shopping. We need to buy Charles and Jane an engagement gift."

Nodding his agreement, he kissed his girlfriend gently on the lips and exited his bedroom, all thoughts of the past pushed out of his mind, for now it was time to look to the future and what better way to do that than to celebrate your best friend getting engaged?


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Once again, thank you for your reviews on the last chapter. I've already asked that you keep an open mind in my first AN on the first chapter with regards to Darcy and please bear in mind that when they do eventually come face to face again, there will be a lot of anger between the two of them until they realise what really happened.

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It had been a busy week for Elizabeth. Saturday, she had taken Rose to an indoor play area and out for lunch at The Harvester as a treat so it was nice to spend some one-to-one time with her little girl. On Saturday night she and Jane shared a bottle of wine once Rose was in bed and discussed some ideas for the wedding. Jane told her that it was going to be in December, they wanted a short engagement and quick wedding so that only left a few weeks to sort the arrangements out, well the reception was going to be held at Netherfield at Charles's request. They would get married at Longbourn Church and had already set the date for the 28th of December.

Charles had wanted a buffet instead of a formal dinner, that way people wouldn't be placed at tables where they wouldn't talk to each other and could move around at their own free will. But there was still the other things such as the transport to sort out, dresses, suits, menu, decorations, music, photographer and many more other things that they hadn't even thought of on Saturday night. Sunday consisted of a rainy day indoors watching Disney movies whilst Lizzy went over her lesson plans for the week.

Mrs Bennet was avoiding Lizzy at all costs since the matriarch had been told off by her daughter on Friday about her 'bastard' comment. If Lizzy knew one thing it was that her mother would have preferred her to have been married at the time of Rose's conception. But alas, it was what it was and she didn't regret having Rose the way she did. Lydia had spent the majority of Sunday afternoon trying to persuade Jane to let them wear bright pink bridesmaid dresses that she had found in a bridal magazine but Jane had firmly told her she didn't want bright colours.

It had been an early night on Sunday for most of the household, Jane had a nine o'clock meeting with a new client and Lizzy would have to drop Rose off at pre-school for eight in the morning before heading to school for eight-thirty. So after a good night's sleep and a lot of rushing around on Monday morning, Rose happily skipped off into her classroom with two of her little friends whilst Lizzy got back into her car and drove to work.

The morning at school went by in the blink of an eye, the morning with her class was spent doing literacy before the first break time of the day came and it was her turn to do playground duty with two colleagues, Marie King and Matthew Lucas. It was nice to watch her class run around the playground, she and Matthew ended up holding either end of a long skipping rope as some of the girls jumped in. When the bell rang, they went back into the classrooms and she started her classes numeracy lesson in their times tables.

Her students then went to lunch and she sat with Matthew in the staff room. Matthew was the older brother of her best friend Charlotte and the two had known each other for her entire life, he was the one who had put in a good word for her with the Headteacher when she had left university and she had been grateful ever since. Although Matthew taught year four whilst she taught year six. After lunch had finished, the rest of the afternoon was spent in the school hall getting out the gymnastics equipment and doing warm ups for their PE lesson.

Three o'clock came once more and it was raining yet again, only harder this time. After her meetings with the other members of staff, she got into her car and headed home. Rose had been collected by her father at lunch time so she was looking forward to spending a little time with her daughter before dinner was ready. Upon her arrival back at Longbourn and after parking her car next to her Dad's, she ran into the house to avoid getting drenched and was greeted by Rose who was covered in felt tip pens.

Lizzy laughed, "Did Granddad give you those?" she asked.

Rose nodded, "We drawed pictures." the little girl replied proudly.

"Can you show them to Mummy?"

Taking hold of her little girl's hand, Rose led her into the study where she pointed to the pieces of paper on the desk. Sitting in her father's swivel chair, she looked at the pictures that her daughter had drawn and smiled. Rose loved to draw and although most children her age still scribbled, Rose was able to form shapes and stick figures.

"They're really nice pictures, Rose." Lizzy said warmly.

Rose beamed up at her and hugged her round the legs tightly before showing her mother the picture she had drawhn of the two of them, a small stick figure with unruly curly hair and a taller one with lighter brown hair and two massive green dots for eyes. After spending a little more time looking at the pictures that Rose had drawn with her Dad, they were called in for dinner where they mainly discussed the plans that Jane and Charles had made that afternoon, the Church was booked now so the date was official, it was easier to get married in the two week holiday because Lizzy would be off from work and Lydia, Kitty and Mary wouldn't have to worry about missing university lectures or sixth form classes.

After dinner, Rose was bathed and read her bedtime story by Lizzy before being tucked in and drifting off to sleep. Elizabeth watched as her daughter slept so peacefully, her daughter's forehead free of stress and worry; she envied that sometimes, but she wouldn't have it any other way. As long as Rose was happy and well in her surroundings, it made her happy. Once Rose was settled, she made a start on her lesson plans for the following week as she wouldn't get a chance to do so with the engagement party on Saturday night.

And the routine went on over the next four days. Come Friday Lizzy was glad to get home from work with her lesson plans for the following week completed. Tired from her week of teaching, Rose was bathed and climbed into Lizzy's bed as her mother placed Aladdin into the DVD player; pressing the play button before climbing into the side that wasn't occupied by the three year old.

"Mummy?" Rose asked with a yawn.

"Yes darling?"

"I wanna be a princess." Rose whispered.

Lizzy smiled, tucking a curl behind her daughter's ear, "You are a princess, you're my princess."

"Princess Rose." the little girl smiled.

Elizabeth nodded in agreement, holding her daughter close to her as she could. Before she knew it, Rose had fallen asleep when Aladdin got stuck in the cave with the magic carpet, Abu and the genie.

he ended her Friday night with an early night tucked up in her bedroom with Rose watching a Disney film, both sleeping with the television playing the DVD.

ooOoo

"Good to see you Darcy!" Charles greeted enthusiastically, as William and Eleanor got out of his car.

The two best friends hugged briefly before Charles placed a light kiss to Eleanor's cheek. The three of them walked into the house, being greeted by the Hursts and Caroline Bingley, who immediately hugged Eleanor. The two women, despite Caroline's interest in Darcy, had always got on reasonably well because Eleanor came from a similar background to Darcy and if there was one thing Caroline wanted, other than her own marriage into the Darcy family, it was that William Darcy knew what his family expected from him.

"Have you eaten yet?" Charles asked.

"Reginald had us eat a hot meal at lunch time, you know how insistent he can be." Eleanor replied.

Entering the living room, they all sat down and started to discuss the engagement party that was taking place tomorrow night.

"I take no credit for the décor, Caroline was the one to have the house decorated and met with the caterers all week." Charles said with gratitude.

"The plan is to have the marquee outside decorated with circular tables covered in white table cloths where the guests can sit and be served food from trays that the waiters will be carrying. Just something light. The poles that keep the marquee standing will be covered with gold ribbon and a banner will cover the far end with the words, 'Congratulations Charles & Jane' in a nice font. Something simple yet lovely, like Jane Bennet." Caroline boasted.

 _Bennet._ William frowned. Bennet had been Elizabeth's last name when the two were together, but then again Bennet was such a common surname in today's age, it was possible that Jane just simply shared a surname with his ex-girlfriend.

"It sounds wonderful Caroline," Eleanor complimented, "When it's mine and Fitzwilliam's turn to hold an engagement party, I will most certainly ask you and your talents to plan the party."

William held a breath when he met the icy stare from his best friend's little sister, he knew what Caroline was getting at. A part of her didn't want to see him marry someone else and another part was asking him why he hadn't proposed to his girlfriend after three years together which could possibly lead to Caroline hoping she still had a chance.

"I'd love to offer my services Eleanor." Caroline replied with a smile.

"Of course, we'd want to go on a larger and more extravagant.."

William zoned out as Eleanor, Caroline and Louisa talked about an engagement party that wasn't even happening and wouldn't be happening for a while if he had a say. But he knew that ever since he had told his girlfriend and father about Charles and Jane getting engaged, he would be getting a lot more pressure to propose to Eleanor and with his girlfriend openly discussing what she would like her own engagement party to look like, it was certainly adding to the pressure he was already getting from his father.

"So what's her family like?" William asked.

Charles smiled, "She's the eldest of five girls. Her mother's quite...I suppose you could say loud and sometimes old fashioned."

"Old fashioned?"

Charles nodded, "Fran Bennet wants to see all her daughters married when the time comes. Jane's sister is a year younger than her and has a three year old daughter and she's not married. So in their mother's eyes her second daughter is a disappointment."

"No wonder the daughter is a disappointment if that is the mother's beliefs." William replied.

"Rose is a lovely little girl, a credit to her mother and to Jane. Jane adores her niece, such a cheeky little girl." Charles said fondly.

"It seems that this little girl has had an affect on you."

Charles nodded in agreement, "Rosie has me wrapped around her little finger but it's the way she lights up and calls me 'Uncle Charlie' that makes me melt."

"I hope that you'll get that with your own child one day Bingley."

"I hope so. Just be aware that Jane's youngest two sisters can be quite 'silly' as their father describes them. The youngest is boy mad and the other tends to follow in agreement. But they're lovely girls, ambitious. Two of them are currently at university." said Charles.

"What do they study?"

"Music and History."

William nodded, at least his best friend was marrying into a family that had it's members attend university, that had to count for something. From previous descriptions from Caroline, Jane was always described as a country girl with country tastes and lived on a small estate but still needed a job to live on. Whilst his own family owned property and let those properties through their estate agent business, their family had come from money for several generations.

After a little longer of talking, he and Eleanor bade the others goodnight and climbed the stairs to the room where they would be sleeping. William couldn't wait for the weekend to be over, the sooner he could get in his car and drive back to Pemberley the better, he wouldn't have to keep putting up with Eleanor's talk with Charles's sisters about weddings and engagement parties and he wouldn't have to keep getting stares from the woman whose feelings he didn't return.

ooOoo

Elizabeth sat at her dressing table, curling tongs in hand and trying to finish off her hair before her mother came up trying to search for her. She had spent most of the day shopping with Jane and Rose, getting dresses for the party tonight. Rose had chosen out a ruffled red dress and matching bow to wear whilst Jane had picked a light pink dress with glitter on the see through sleeves but she hadn't found anything that she really liked; until they had gone into the Debenhams store where she found a blue, bodycon dress which Jane liked on her as well. With the votes of her daughter and sister, she bought the dress.

It was times like this that she wished that she didn't have to bother with the curling tongs and that she had curly hair like Rose did. She had always thought her daughter would be lucky when Rose got to her teenage years, she wouldn't have to bother with hairstyling equipment when she had natural curls. She let her hair frame around her face, pinning the left side back behind her ear before standing up, hearing the frantic shouts of her mother from downstairs.

"Lizzy! Elizabeth?! Get down here, we're going to be late." came the frantic shrieking of her mother from the entrance hall.

Rolling her eyes, Elizabeth stood up and glanced at her reflection for one last time in the mirror. Her make-up was lightly applied and her hair was now finished and in place, Lizzy picked up her matching clutch bag which contained her phone and keys. She left her bedroom and met her daughter at the top of the stairs. Taking Rose's hand in her own, the two of them met the rest of the family in the entrance hall and left in their cars for Netherfield. Time to go and celebrate her sister's engagement.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** Thank you to everyone who reviewed chapter three, it means a lot to me that many of you like the story concept. In reply to one reviewer: I agree, there is nothing wrong with parents expecting their children to be married before having their own children. But this story is set in the 21st century where such expectations aren't always there, in the UK today the population is made up of different family situations where most are unmarried couples with children or single unmarried mothers with children, I should know; my situation is that I've been with the same man for nearly seven years and we have two nearly three children together with no desire to get married but I have my own personal reasons for that. I wanted to express the fact it's a modern day AU story whilst also keeping in line with Mrs Bennet's wish to see all her daughters married in the original story. So I don't mean to offend you by coming across as it's 'wrong' or something that parents are expecting their children to be married before having a family in this day and age.

As for cliffhangers, there will be a lot of them ;) as a writer it's good to keep my readers on edge by wondering what's going to happen in the next chapter, it also keeps me inspired when you say that you can't wait for the next update. So please, keep coming with the reviews.

Now, relax and enjoy a certain couple meeting again for the first time since RD chucked Lizzy out of his Chelsea home.

* * *

Arriving at Netherfield Park, the Bennet family were instantly greeted by the Bingley family rather warmly. Jane had been there since they had returned from shopping to help the Bingleys prepare for the party and looked absolutely stunning in her dress with her hair tied into a half up half down style. Lizzy smiled as Rose instantly went to Charles for a cuddle and stuck her tongue out at Caroline who had always shown Rose her dislike of children. Biting back a laugh, she nodded in Caroline's direction before hugging her soon-to-be brother-in-law and then kissed her sister's cheek.

"Mum won't be happy that the Lucas family were invited." Lizzy muttered under her breath.

Jane rolled her eyes, Mrs Lucas and Mrs Bennet had only ever gotten on because their children had grown up rather close and still remained good friends. Matthew taught at Meryton Primary with Lizzy and was the oldest of the Lucas kids, then there was Charlotte, Lizzy's best friend who worked at the local police force, Maria who was the same age as Kitty and went to university and then there was Archie who was a year younger than Lydia.

"Well it's our party and the Lucas family have always shown us respect and kindness. The amount of times we had sleepovers with Charlotte when we were kids and all the other good times we shared with them, it would be rude not to invite them." Jane replied.

Lizzy nodded her understanding, "Did Uncle Ed and Aunt Maddie come?" she asked.

Jane shook her head, "They couldn't get the cover for the bar on too short notice, they apologised and said they would be coming to the wedding."

But before Lizzy could reply, she felt a tug on the bottom of her dress which caused her to look down at Rose who was smiling up at her innocently. She knelt down so that she was at her daughter's height and raised an eyebrow, knowing full well that Rose wanted to go off an explore.

"What is it Rosie?" Lizzy asked.

Rose pointed to the top of the stairs where a dog stood staring at the two of them. It was Charles's King Charles Spaniel called Dash who absolutely adored Rose and the feeling was returned. Rose loved Dash to pieces, whenever the two of them were at Netherfield, Rose would be playing with Dash in the corridors or down at the stables with the horses with Charles and Dash, she loved animals.

"Okay, you can go and play with Dash but stay in the house and out of bedrooms. Don't go too far." Lizzy said.

Rose nodded and hugged her before running up the stairs to greet Dash. Lizzy watched her daughter and smiled fondly, knowing her daughter would be occupied for the majority of the party. A waiter handed her a glass of water, she was driving after all, as she moved into the garden to admire the decoration that Caroline Bingley had planned for the past week, it was still sunny out so the tealights that stood in small circles on each of the tables went unlit for the time being.

Seeing her best friend walking towards her, Lizzy hugged Charlotte tightly and the two sat down at one of the tables.

"Why aren't you drinking tonight?" Charlotte asked.

"I'm driving my car tonight, My dad didn't have enough room in his car for me and Rose as Kitty and Mary are home this weekend." Lizzy explained.

"How is the little trouble maker?"

"She's playing with the dog in the house, she and Dash are like best buddies when she comes here." Lizzy laughed.

"Like mother like daughter." Charlotte mused.

"I'm surprised you managed to get a night off."

Charlotte rolled her eyes, "I've had this weekend booked off for ages, I was supposed to be going away with Jack but we broke up on Wednesday."

"You broke up?" Lizzy asked.

Jack had been Charlotte's on again off again boyfriend over the last eighteen months so it hardly surprised Lizzy that Charlotte and Jack had called time on their relationship yet again. For one thing, Jack didn't like the fact that Charlotte was a uniformed police officer and had to do a lot of night shifts patrolling the streets of Watford on Friday and Saturday nights when the clubs kicked out. Some of the club goers could get violent in their drunken state.

"He's been cheating on me with some girl he works with. He said that I'm always busy with work and he's right. But when I told him that I wasn't going to apologise for my career or the fact I'm required to work a mixture of shifts and that I wouldn't quit my job, he ended it for good. He packed up his shit and moved in with his work girl. It's been coming for a long time, I'm done with men for the time being!" Charlotte declared.

The girls clinked their glasses together and took a sip before glancing around at the other guests who were arriving under the marquee and sitting at some of the other table surrounding theirs. Lizzy recognised some of them as their neighbours from Meryton who had gotten to know Charles Bingley better through his connection with Jane and a few others she guessed were friends of Charles and his family.

"I have to say, Caroline has done a good job with the decoration." Lizzy admired to Charlotte.

"I prefer to look at some of the men. Charles introduced me to his best man and I have to say, he's my definition of gorgeous!" Charlotte bragged.

Lizzy raised an eyebrow, "You're already eyeing up other men? You've just broken up with Jack!" she laughed.

"Well a girl can't mope around. How long has it been for you? You haven't had one hookup since that bad breakup four years ago."

Her smile faded, she didn't want to be reminded of her lack of relationships or sex life since her breakup with William Darcy. Charlotte immediately apologised when her best friend saw the saddened look on her face.

"I'm going to go and check on Rose, see if she's hungry." Lizzy muttered, leaving her glass on the table and rising from her seat.

ooOoo

William stood on the terrace that overlooked the gardens of Netherfield, drinking the last of his champagne. It was a lovely night, quite warm that he had left his suit jacket in the bedroom he was sharing with Eleanor. But he wasn't in the mood for a party, yet again there had been talk between his girlfriend and Caroline about proposals, only this time Eleanor had suggested scenarios in which she would like him to propose to her; every way was over the top with some expensive restaurant or somewhere abroad just the two of them. So far, he had been introduced to Jane's three out of four younger sisters and he had found Bingley's description of the younger two correct; Lydia had been flirting all night with some of the local boys and Kitty had followed suit.

The other one, Mary, had kept to the piano in the living room and played for the few guests who had remained there. The parents of those Bennet girls didn't really parent them in his opinion, the mother had spent most of the party gushing to anyone who would listen how well her Jane had done in bagging herself a husband with an estate, thank god he wasn't dating any of the Bennet girls. Although he was still to meet the sister who had a child out of wedlock.

As he looked on ahead, he saw that Jane was heading back into the house with a brunette in a blue dress; although due to the darkening of the sky outside he couldn't see the brunette properly. He could see Eleanor speaking with Caroline as they lit the tealights on the tables under the marquee. He had no idea where Charles had gotten to but he guessed that's why Jane was heading back inside the house.

"Will, have you seen Charles?" Jane asked.

He shook his head, turning to Jane to speak but he stopped when his eyes met those green ones he had first seen four years ago at a bar in Spain. Elizabeth. His heart beat faster in his chest and she looked shocked to see him again. How could she be here? As he looked at her he noticed that her hair was longer than what it had been when he had last seen her, she was curvier and she looked almost...wiser? But despite the few changes in the last four years, she still looked the same as the girl who had taken his father's money and ran.

Jane looked between the two of them, "Sorry, I'm being rude. William Darcy, this is my sister Elizabeth. Lizzy, this is-"

"We've already met." William answered sharply.

"Oh, so the introduction wasn't necessary if you met earlier during the party-"

Elizabeth turned to her sister, her eyes filling with watery tears. William wondered why she was feeling upset by coming face to face with him again? After all, she was the one who took that money and left.

"Jane, I'm really sorry but I have to leave. Now."

"Why, we haven't even done speeches yet-"

"Jane, I'll make it up to you and Charles but I need to go now."

"But Lizzy-"

Jane was cut off when her sister turned and took off. William watched as Jane looked confused and Elizabeth went into the house. He followed, as did Jane, because he needed to know why she had left and pretended to love him when all she was after was his family's money. He needed to know why she hadn't ended their relationship face to face and despite her desperate attempts to get away without an explanation; he was determined to get one.

ooOoo

Rose sat on the library floor, rolling a ball across the carpet and laughing as Dash chased the ball and caught it in his mouth before bringing it back to her. She could hear the music outside in the garden but she liked it better staying inside and playing with Dash. When the door to the library opened she looked up and grinned when she saw Uncle Charlie enter the room.

"There you are Rosie Posie." Charles said happily.

She giggled when her uncle sat down next to her and took the ball from Dash, throwing it again and both watching as the dog happily ran after it.

"Have you been in here playing with Dash the whole time?" Charles asked.

Rose nodded, "I like Dash!" she declared.

Charles nodded, "I know. I think Dash likes you too."

"More than you." Rose boasted, taking the soggy ball out of Dash's mouth.

Laughing, Charles scratched his dog behind the ears and heard the band starting up a new song for his guests to dance to.

"Shall we go out for a dance?" Charles asked.

Rose stuck out her tongue and blew a raspberry, "Boring!" she complained.

Charles laughed, he loved how cheeky she was.

"But Uncle Charlie wants one dance with his favourite girl. Can you do that for me Rosie?" Charles asked.

Rose nodded her head and stroked Dash on the ears for the last time and stood up, taking hold of her uncle's hand; they left the library and made their way down the staircase to join the rest of the party out in the garden.

ooOoo

Elizabeth walked as fast as she could into the entrance hall, trying to find one of her family members to locate where her daughter was. Seeing William for the first time in four years had been a complete shock, for both of them it seemed. He was the last person that she expected to see at her sister's engagement party and she needed to leave for Longbourn as soon as it was possible because she didn't want Rose anywhere near the man who had never bothered to acknowledge their daughter's existence. She didn't even want to have answers to the questions she had, all she wanted was to be as far from Netherfield as possible.

"Lizzy! What's the matter, why do you have to go right now?" Jane asked, clearly upset.

She stopped and turned to face her sister, seeing that William had followed her back into the house as well. Sighing heavily she hugged her sister before releasing her and tried to catch her breath.

"Remember that summer I spent in Spain? The guy I fell in love with? William Darcy was that guy." Lizzy explained, her eyes meeting those brown ones that she saw everyday in the face of her beautiful little girl.

Jane looked confused before turning to William, her facial expression soon changing to anger.

"You're the man who hurt my sister-"

William looked absolutely furious as he stood before them. What he had to be furious about, Lizzy didn't know. After everything that had happened between them and the way he hadn't even acknowledge their daughter or helped to raise Rose had caused her to be more than furious with him.

"More like she's the woman who hurt me, lied to me and took my family's money!" William yelled.

"Of course that's what you'd believe William! You know why I had no choice to leave." Lizzy yelled back.

"You're a good actress, you never loved me did you? Was it always about my money? Why did you make up those stories that you told me about wanting to be a teacher and that you just wanted me, not what my family stood for. You betrayed me-"

Lizzy couldn't help but scoff, "I betrayed you?! That's a little rich coming from you." she replied.

"So tell me why you didn't end the relationship face to face. Tell me why you took that money while I was out with my sister."

"You weren't out. You were simply hiding because you were too ashamed to face it with me. You left me to deal with everything on my own."

"JUST TELL ME WHY YOU LEFT ME WITHOUT SO MUCH AS A GOODBYE!" William shouted loudly.

But before Lizzy could reply, her eyes went to the staircase behind William and saw Charles stood on the stairs, holding hands with Rose.

"Mummy? Why is there shouting?" Rose asked, letting go of Charles's hand and skipping up to her.

Elizabeth picked Rose up, trying to turn away but William grasped her arm and pulled her back to face him. Feeling like her heart was going to burst from her chest if it kept beating faster and faster with nerves, she looked as William went from looking and feeling furious to feeling something else entirely. He was looking into the eyes that matched his own before he ran his hand through those brown curls that matched his own. Rose was the image of her father, the same brown eyes and brown hair that he was finally putting the pieces together. She couldn't process the confused look of Charles as her future brother-in-law joined the group and tried to whisper to Jane as to what was going on.

"Elizabeth...is this why you ran? Were you pregnant with our child?"

But she couldn't answer him. She was rooted to the spot, Rose looking up at her confused as to what was going on and who the man standing in front of her was. How could she explain to her three year old that the man who had touched her hair was the man who had abandoned them both?

"Elizabeth, please. Tell me. Is this my daughter?" William asked, imploring her for an answer.

Looking into his eyes, she blinked to hold in the tears that wanted to escape so desperately.

"Yes. She is your daughter." Lizzy replied in a whisper.

Somewhere behind them a glass shattered and they all turned to look and saw a blonde woman stood in the doorway that led out to the direction of the terrace. Lizzy didn't know who she was but by the way she was looking at William, she could tell that the blonde had some romantic connection to her ex-boyfriend. And all Elizabeth Bennet knew was that now she had seen William again, her life as she knew it would never be the same again.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, I'm overwhelmed by how many of you reviewed it and I enjoyed reading each and every one of them. Now I just want to explain something to avoid confusion in this chapter, Under the 2010 Conservative government in the UK the law was changed regarding births. If you were a married couple the father, assuming the father was the husband, didn't have to be present when the mother registered the birth. As an unwed mother, my partner had to be present with me when I had to register the births of my two children if he wanted to be on the birth certificate. Because this story is set during this time period, Darcy isn't on Rose's birth certificate because he wasn't present at registration. So I wanted to clear this up before you read it and asked me why he wasn't on the birth certificate.

Also, some of you may not like Lizzy's attitude towards William in this chapter but please bear in mind that there's a lot of anger there, she's raised a child by herself without any support from William for the last three years. Obviously both William and Lizzy have different views as to what's happened so my excuse for Lizzy's behaviour is her version of events.

There are still plenty more twists and turns to come because of the way I've written out the plot line for this story so I hope that as the story progresses you'll be surprised.

As a thank you for your reviews, I'm posting this early because I have a family packed weekend and will be unable to post, same goes for Never What They Seem which will be updated on Monday.

And as always, enjoy and review :)

* * *

After several moments of awkward silence, Elizabeth apologised to Jane and Charles and promised to make it up to them by taking them out to dinner during the following week and tried to walk away with Rose; only to be stopped when William yet again tugged her back to face him.

"Where do you think you're going?" William demanded.

Raising an eyebrow, she scoffed again.

"I'm taking my daughter home." Elizabeth answered.

"I think you owe me some answers."

"I owe you nothing, just like you owed me nothing in the last three years!" Elizabeth snapped.

He looked at her in disbelief, she didn't understand why he was looking at her like that. She had text him and told him about their daughter's birth and had never received a reply from William, why did he think that she owed him anything?

"I didn't know that I had a daughter!" William tried to reason.

The blonde had joined them, trying to link arms with William but he threw her off which caused the blonde to look disappointed amongst other things. Jane and Charles stood there in silence, still in shock that the sister and the best friend had known each other prior to the pair's engagement party. Elizabeth ignored William an turned to face her sister, feeling so much guilt that Jane's special night had been ruined by the revelation of Rose's paternity.

"Jane, Charles, I'm terribly sorry for tonight's events. I'm going to take Rose home and I'll see you both later to arrange for me to make it up to you both." Elizabeth said again.

"Darcy, you're little Rosie's father?" Charles asked.

"It would appear so Bingley." William muttered.

"So this is the tart who took your father's money?" the blonde asked.

Elizabeth glared at the blonde, who was she to judge her? The blonde knew nothing about her, her relationship with William or how she had brought up a child on her own for the last three years whilst also working, graduating university and getting the career that she had dreamed about since her teenage years.

"Keep your mouth shut, you don't know anything about me." Elizabeth hissed.

The blonde raised an eyebrow, "Your father was right Fitzwilliam, a country nobody. Aren't you glad that you saw sense and got back together with me, the one person who has always loved you-"

Lizzy laughed harshly, "You must be Eleanor? Yeah, he's told me all about you and I have to say, he wasn't wrong." she said bitterly.

Well, she wasn't exactly lying. William had told her about his ex-girlfriend when they had been together, how Eleanor was always pushy and wanted him to do things that he wasn't ready for and it was evident that Eleanor was still the same if she was saying that William had seen sense after they had broken up to get back together.

"If you'll excuse me, I have to take my daughter home." Elizabeth said, giving Jane one last hug and apology before leaving through the front doors.

She could hear the shouting protests from Eleanor as she heard footsteps running behind her but she didn't turn around to see if it was William who was following her. Right now, all she cared about was getting Rose home. Her daughter was already looking confused as to what was going on and she didn't want any more upset or confusion tonight, she knew that Rose was going to be asking questions and she had to figure out a way to explain everything to her little girl.

Reaching her car, she unlocked the door and strapped Rose into her car seat. Rose let out a huge yawn and smiled brightly up at her mother which only caused Lizzy to feel more guilty at how the engagement party had been ruined but she believed that she was doing the right thing by leaving, she didn't want any more trouble to be caused or any more scenes to be created by the revelation. There would be a time and a place to talk about everything that had happened and her sister's engagement party wasn't the place.

As she shut the door and walked around the car to get into the driver's seat, she was stopped by a demanding William. If there was one thing she had learned about the Darcy family; it was that they were determined. William was determined to ask his questions or shout at her now just as Reginald Darcy had been determined to get rid of her four years ago.

"Elizabeth, we need to talk about this!" William growled.

"Get away from my car. Now." Elizabeth warned.

"How could you keep this little girl from me? How could you just run away and leave me in the dark about the fact that I had fathered a child?!"

"I'm not doing this now! I don't owe you anything William Darcy. You may have fathered Rose but she is _my_ daughter. You knew about her and you haven't bothered in the last three years since she's been alive and for you to claim otherwise is an insult. You didn't want to be there, that's fine but that's your loss. I was there through every late night feed, every nappy change, every sleepless night and tantrum, every illness and every good and happy moment because she only had me to defend and care for her. So please, just go back to Eleanor or whatever it is that you share with her and forget about us. You've managed perfectly well for the last three years so why does it need to change now?!"

"Elizabeth-"

She held her hand up and cut him off. At the moment, she didn't want to hear his excuses or weak explanations as to why he had hidden and let his father _deal_ with the situation. He would always be the proud Darcy who didn't want to deal with the fact that he had knocked up some _summer fling_ and so had gotten daddy dearest to pay her off and send her on her way with no goodbyes. For him to stand here now, it was evident that the twenty-one year old she had met in Spain and appeared to be everything that a Darcy wasn't supposed to be had turned into what was expected of him.

Unlocking the car door, she got in and buckled up her seatbelt before placing her keys into the ignition and turned on the engine. William looked pained, she didn't know why and right now, she didn't care. All she cared about at the moment was getting her daughter into bed and thinking of a way to fix the mess that had been created.

ooOoo

William headed back into the house, feeling absolutely furious that Elizabeth would keep his child from him. What would possess her from doing so? Had she taken the money from his father because of the pregnancy? Did his father know about his child? But surely his father would have told him about Elizabeth being pregnant if that was the case? He couldn't believe that his father would keep something like this from him.

Jane, Charles and Eleanor still stood in the entrance hall; shocked by what had happened. They weren't the only ones.

"Charles, Jane, my apologies. I think I'll retire for the night and try to process what's happened." William said.

His best friend nodded, leading his fiancé out towards the terrace leaving William and Eleanor stood in the entrance hall. Eleanor looked confused and upset and he didn't understand why she would be; it wasn't as if she had just found out that she had a child that she didn't know about. Gesturing towards the stairs, the two of them walked up to their room in silence, locking the door behind them before collapsing on to the bed.

"Fitzwilliam, are you even sure that the child is yours? I mean just because it's the child of your summer fling four years ago doesn't necessarily mean that the child is yours." Eleanor said.

He looked at her coldly, "She is my image. The girl...Rose...she has my eyes and my hair, even the Darcy curls. She's mine." William replied.

"Are you...are you going to have a relationship with this child?" Eleanor asked, with a tone of upset.

William sighed heavily, "I don't know. I just found out that this child exists and that she's mine. I have to talk to Elizabeth about it." he replied.

"What if-"

"Eleanor, please. Can we just drop it for tonight? I just want to go to sleep and process the fact that I'm a father." William snapped.

"But Fitzwilliam-"

"Just drop it!"

Nothing more was said as the two undressed and pulled on their pyjamas for bed. Eleanor was the first underneath the duvet, facing away from him and shutting off her bedside lamp before settling on to her pillows. William followed suit, turning off his lamp and settling underneath the duvet but as he soon heard the light snores coming from his girlfriend, he tried to sleep but found himself unable to. Thoughts of those brown eyes that she had inherited from him, those curly locks and hair colour that matched his own. There was no doubt that Rose was his child.

His thoughts then drifted to Elizabeth, how she had managed to raise a child on her own for the last three years and how he hadn't been given the option to help provide for their child. Surely she must be struggling to raise a child by herself? Assuming that she wasn't in a relationship with someone else. Just the thought of another man in Elizabeth's life playing Daddy to his little girl made him more angry, he had every right to know about Rose and every right to make a decision as to whether he was going to be her Daddy.

Hearing the guests leaving a little while later into the night, he knew it was late and he hoped that Charles and Jane weren't too angry that Elizabeth had felt she had no choice but to leave the party early. Rolling on to his back, he stared up at the ceiling and sighed heavily. Eleanor was in a deep sleep now as he snoring was deeper and a little louder, this whole situation was going to change their lives together. Before tonight it had just been the two of them, their relationship going strong for three years with no breakups this time, she lived with him at Pemberley and now there was a child to add into the equation. William didn't know what was going to happen, all he knew was that as he had looked at his little girl, he wanted to be apart of her life; that was what he wanted. But there was the matter of Elizabeth, he needed to talk to her about this situation.

Closing his eyes he drifted off into a restless sleep, a little girl with his looks and wearing a red dress haunting his dreams.

ooOoo

The next morning Lizzy woke feeling very tired after being unable to get a good night's sleep. Rose, however, had managed to sleep soundly as she always had and sat at the dining table eating her bowl of coco pops as if nothing had happened. There had yet to be any questions about the man who had touched her hair and shouted a lot but she knew it wouldn't be long until those questions would be asked. Rose was a curious little girl after all. As she sat down and helped herself to some toast, Jane entered the living room and sat next to her.

"We need to talk." Jane said softly.

Lizzy nodded her agreement, seeing her ex-boyfriend and the father to her child after four long years wasn't exactly the way she had wanted to spend her weekend and nor was it the way she had wanted to celebrate her sister's engagement.

"Rose, have you nearly finished?" Lizzy asked.

Her little girl looked up and grinned, nodding and getting up from the table to go and play in the garden outside. Once Rose was out of hearing distance, Elizabeth turned to her sister and felt all the more guilty that the party may have been ruined.

"I'm sorry if the party was ruined-"

"It wasn't ruined. I understand now why you had to leave and I appreciate that you did because if you hadn't then there would have been more of a scene. I just can't believe that my fiancé's best friend is the father of my niece." Jane said softly.

Lizzy sighed, "It's one of those horrible coincidence's isn't it? Has Charles said anything?"

"He hasn't spoken to William as far as I know, unless he has this morning. But he asked me if I knew who Rose's father was but I said I only knew his name was William, that you had never mentioned his surname because it was too painful for you." Jane answered.

"I don't want this to come between the two of you. Obviously I have to see William Darcy because of your wedding but I'll be civil to him because I don't want to spoil your day." Elizabeth promised.

"But Lizzy, he's seen Rose now. Are you going to let him be involved now?"

"No. He's had three years to be involved with Rose and he chose not to. Why should he start playing the doting daddy now? Rose needs stability and the Darcy's can't just choose when to be involved with my daughter." Lizzy explained.

"Well then, that's fair enough but you need to talk to him about your wishes." Jane said.

"How long was he staying at Netherfield?"

"Until tonight I believe."

"Well then he can go back to wherever he came from and forget about us. I need to carry on as normal as I can."

Jane smiled, "You're too stubborn sometimes. Just remember that Rose is at the centre of everything and you can't let her get hurt."

Before Lizzy could reply to her sister's statement, they heard a car pulling up in the driveway. The two of them left the dining room and exited their small manor house, smiling as Charles walked towards them. He gave Jane a light kiss to the cheek and turned to Lizzy, looking very apologetic.

"How did you sleep last night?" Charles asked.

"Not very well considering. I'm sorry for last night-"

"No need to apologise, I understand Lizzy. I spoke with him a great deal this morning but I'm afraid I couldn't stop him from coming with me." Charles apologised.

Lizzy's eyes went wide, "Coming with you? Where is he?"

They heard footsteps approaching and around the corner of the house came William, holding hands with Rose. She felt furious that he had the nerve to seek Rose out without her permission. Walking straight up to her ex, she took Rose out of his grasp and ordered her daughter into the house. Rose did as she was told, looking back at them, confused as to what was going on.

"How dare you assume that you would instantly have access to her?" Lizzy hissed.

"She's my child too." William pointed out.

"A child you haven't bothered with in the last three years, you aren't even on her birth certificate."

That seemed to sting him, she hadn't meant it as an insult but it was the law. Unwed partners who wanted to be on a child's birth certificate had to be present at the registration and William had made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with Rose when he hadn't bothered to answer her text message.

"We'll go and play with Rose, you two need to talk about this." Jane interrupted, leading Charles inside the house.

Standing on the driveway, Elizabeth gestured for him to follow her into the garden where they wouldn't be disturbed. A part of her wanted to get rid of him but Jane was right, they needed to talk about Rose.

"Why did you not tell me-"

"I'm not talking about that, it is what it is and I'm not digging up painful memories."

"Fine. But we do need to talk about the last four years at some point-"

"No we don't. You're going to go back to your home with your girlfriend and forget that me and Rose ever existed." Elizabeth said.

"It's a little late for that, don't you think?" William laughed harshly.

"No. I don't see why things have to change."

"I'm her father! I have a right to be in her life!"

Elizabeth stopped in her tracks, "Actually you don't. You basically declared that we weren't good enough for the Darcy's. Besides, Rose is a Bennet, not a Darcy." she replied.

"Some things never change,you're still as stubborn as ever!" William growled.

The stood inches apart, both angry at the other for different reasons that they weren't ready to talk about.

"I've already missed out on so much time with her, I don't want to miss out on more." William implored, his voice softer.

"What about your family? What about Eleanor? Will they just accept the fact that you want to play Daddy?" Elizabeth asked.

"This is my decision and I don't want to 'play Daddy', I want to be her Daddy!" William declared.

"So what is it you want?"

"I think that maybe she should, I don't know, move in with me for a little while or something. She needs to know about me, about her father's background-"

"Hold on a minute. You've barely acknowledged that she's yours for twenty-four hours and already you're talking about moving her in with you? I don't think so!" Lizzy scoffed in disbelief.

"I'm in a better position to provide for her-"

With that he earned himself a slap. He had definitely become a Darcy in the last four years if he was talking about the finances. How could he become the person that his father had always wanted him to be? Where was the man who had shown her there was more to him than his pride?

"A Darcy through and through. I manage just fine. I work hard to provide for my daughter, she has everything that she could possibly want." Elizabeth said through gritted teeth.

"And what if she wants a horse? What if she wants a puppy, can you give that to her?"

"For your information, she doesn't want a horse and she has plenty of time with Dash. And if you think that Rose is anything like a spoiled brat then you really don't deserve to know her."

"I never said that-"

"I think you should leave." Elizabeth requested.

But he didn't leave. He stood in front of her, his eyes determined not to leave until they had reached an agreement regarding their daughter. But she thought he was expecting a bit much by requesting that Rose move in with him when Rose had no idea who he was. Besides, she was Rose's primary care giver and wouldn't give up her daughter for anything.

"I'm not going." William stated.

"Fine, if you won't leave then I guess I have no choice. But if you want to be apart of Rose's life then you can start by supervised visits. A few hours each week until I say it's going to change. She isn't to spend any time with your family or your girlfriend until I say otherwise, I don't trust them. If you manage to prove to me that you are willing to be her Daddy, then we can revisit the issue and you can take her out on days out by yourself. But no weekend stays or holidays until you can prove to me that I can trust you-"

"What do you take me for? Of course you can trust me-"

"I can't trust you William. You broke my heart which I can deal with but if you break Rose's then I'll break your legs." Lizzy warned.

"So these 'supervised visits' will you be the one supervising?" William asked.

"Me or a family member. And I'm not the one who is going to be driving to meet you. If you want this time with Rose, you're the one who has to make the effort to come here and see her."

"Is this all going to be on your terms?"

"Of course it is. She's my child, I get a say who gets to be in her life and that includes her absent father. If you want to be her Daddy, you make all the effort with her. Again, if you prove yourself worthy then we can discuss changing my terms. But this is a one time offer William. Take it or leave it, it's your choice."

There was a moment of silence as he considered her terms but for now, it was all she was prepared to offer him.

"Very well then. I can't say that I like your terms because for you hold me at fault for something you aren't prepared to share and talk about with me. I hope that in time that will change and we can talk about what we had, about our past because we have this child who came to be in this world because of how we felt and I will someday need to hear from you where it went wrong." William replied.

Sighing heavily, she looked up at him; her anger softening a tiny bit when she saw the genuine look in his eyes that he really wanted to try and be a father to Rose. A part of her wanted to shield her daughter from the hurt that the Darcy's could bring but she knew that William was determined to get some sort of relationship with his daughter now that he had seen her and it was better to do it this way rather than have a messy court battle.

"Weekends would be better for us, I have kids to teach-"

"You're actually a teacher?"

Elizabeth nodded, "Everything I ever said to you was the truth William. So back on subject, weekends are better for me and Rose. How about you?"

"I usually spend weekends with Eleanor but I can rearrange the time I have with her." William replied.

"Good. So shall we say you can come here next Saturday morning, get Charles to give you my phone number if you don't have it and we can sort something out."

"I'll see you next Saturday then." William said.

"Just one last thing, you only get one chance with Rose. You slip up then that's it. I won't have you hurt her as well." Elizabeth warned.

He blinked at her, "Like I said Elizabeth, I hope that we can talk about our past one day." William replied sharply.

"Don't hold your breath." Elizabeth muttered and walked away from him.

William watched as she walked back into the house and he walked back to Bingley's car. In a way, he was glad that she was giving him the chance to have a relationship with the daughter that he never knew about until last night but he also felt confused. Elizabeth clearly believed that he had always known about Rose but the truth was that he didn't and she wasn't prepared to talk about their breakup yet. But if he knew anything, he had time. Time with Rose where he would be seeing Elizabeth as well he hoped that she would soften towards him and that she would tell him her version of events.

He knew that if she had told him directly about the pregnancy he would have stood by her, he loved her and knew how he felt was real. As he waited for Bingley he pictured in his mind what life might have been like four years ago if Elizabeth hadn't taken his family's money (well that was a separate issue he wanted to talk to her about when the time was right) and how they could have been a little family.

Charles arrived back at his car, saying that Jane was coming over for dinner later as they both got back into his car. Now he had to go and tell his girlfriend that their weekends together would be stopping and he knew that Eleanor wouldn't like it.

* * *

 **A/N 2:** So I'm leaving it there, please don't hate on E&D too much because of this chapter and try to see their point of views.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** Thanks to you lovely readers who reviewed chapter five. Some of you feel that Lizzy was a little out of order and stubborn but at the time of the reveal and the day after she was only thinking about herself and not wanting her daughter to be hurt by the Darcy's like she had been. So I hope that this chapter will make you a little happier as they agree to be civil for Rose's sake.

A few of you are hating on Eleanor too. I can't say I blame you, I'm not going to make any excuses up for her but there is plenty of things to come for her. But try to remember who the main villain is in this story.

Another note, I've had a family bereavement this week as well as pregnancy things to deal with so that is the reason why you haven't had an update so quickly on NWTS and AC. I can't promise an exact date because there are things that I need to sort out regarding my situation at the moment, so please understand and be patient with me.

As always, enjoy and review.

* * *

Reginald Darcy had always thought himself as a good leader, he was the head of a well respected family among families from the same background and had set out good life paths for his two children. Georgiana was currently away at boarding school and still had another two years before she turned eighteen and Fitzwilliam was managing the estate agent business and in a relationship with the girl he had always approved of. Eleanor Clarence. How could he not approve of Eleanor? She had been at Cambridge at the same time as Fitzwilliam and her family also came from money and had the same values as he had. Their families were delighted when the Darcy's and Clarence's had joined through a potential marriage of their children.

But then Fitzwilliam had graduated from Cambridge early and took off to Spain, having broken up with Eleanor for...he had lost count how many times his son had dumped Eleanor because of something petty. And then his son had returned after three months abroad with a country nobody named Elizabeth Bennet. A girl he didn't approve of. After doing a little digging into her family background he discovered that although her father owned a small estate, it was practically worthless. She had ambitions to be a teacher who earned no more than about twenty-five grand a year these days whereas their family had millions. How could he let his son settle down with a girl who didn't understand what he was about, what the Darcy's should be about?

And then the staff had caught her with a pregnancy test and took her straight to his study. Reginald had made sure that Fitzwilliam had taken Georgiana out shopping for new school supplies when before he sat with Elizabeth in the study. The girl was pregnant with his son's child and so he had dealt with the situation as any father who wanted his children to do well would. He told her that Fitzwilliam knew about the baby and wanted nothing more to do with her and so he had written the cheque and put her straight in a taxi, the problem dealt with.

It had taken a lot of convincing his son that Elizabeth was only ever after the money and showed him the copy in his cheque book that she had taken it. But his influence over Fitzwilliam had triumphed and his son sank into moping about the country nobody, a summer fling that wouldn't have lasted. After dealing with Fitzwilliam, he had put the family on a family mobile phone contract where the numbers were changed so he could prevent Elizabeth from contacting his son in the future and locked away the old phone. The problem dealt with. Fitzwilliam went back to Cambridge to complete his masters and by Christmas, his son was back with Eleanor. Four years later, his son was finally where he had always wanted him to be. Well almost.

Ever since Fitzwilliam and Eleanor returned from Netherfield on Sunday night, he could tell that something was wrong. Fitzwilliam wouldn't talk but Eleanor had confided in him that Elizabeth Bennet was the sister of Charles's fiancé and that she had a daughter; Fitzwilliam's daughter. He couldn't believe it. Reginald fumed, this wasn't supposed to happen. The Bennet girl was supposed to stay away and never contact his son or the family ever again and now there was this bastard child to deal with.

Of course, the conversation with his son hadn't gone well. Reginald had offered to deal with it but his son refused, saying that he wanted to be in his daughter's life and would be spending every weekend with her from now on. Eleanor had been upset, the weekends were usually a time for them as a couple and now that time would be taken away by a child.

As the week wore on, he tried to persuade Fitzwilliam to forget about this child but his son wouldn't change his mind. Eleanor had suggested that she go with him but Fitzwilliam told her she couldn't, Elizabeth had strict terms to begin with that only he would be involved with their daughter in the beginning.

And so, he watched from the living room window as Fitzwilliam packed up his car to go and stay with Charles this weekend, his son didn't look back at the house and nor did he say goodbye to his girlfriend; they had yet again had another argument over this child. He couldn't blame Eleanor, they were only twenty-five and he had hoped that the pair would get engaged on their fourth anniversary but now a child had been thrown into their lives and was ruining everything that Eleanor was hoping for and everything that he had hoped for his son.

It was apparent that if Fitzwilliam was going to continue with this child, he would have to step in and sort the situation out. Again.

ooOoo

On Friday night, William received a text from Elizabeth asking to meet her at the Meryton tea room to talk. After asking Charles where it was he had discovered that it was a little cafe in the little village not from Netherfield or from Longbourn. He had spoken with his best friend about Rose and Elizabeth a little more but his best friend had said that Jane wouldn't be the person to get information from regarding the breakup because Jane didn't feel like it was her place to say anything. So after talking a little more about the wedding, he had gone to bed and rose at seven the next morning to get ready to meet Elizabeth.

She was already sat at a table when he got there, having ordered them both a cup of tea. As he sat down, he couldn't help but smile as he saw two sugar packets waiting to be used, she still remembered how many sugars he had in a cup of tea. As he poured the sugar into the cup and stirred she waited patiently, she looked a lot calmer than she had done the week before.

"What time am I meeting with Rose?" William asked.

"Ten-thirty, I thought we should talk first." Elizabeth replied.

"I think you've made your terms quite clear."

"I don't mean about your access to Rose. All week, I've been feeling angry about what happened between us and when I first saw you last weekend, I just wanted you to leave and not be in our lives. After speaking with Jane a great deal about it, I realised that I was wrong not to let you explain your version of what happened between us and to try and stop Rose from knowing you so for that I apologise."

Nodding, he took a sip from his tea.

"Thank you. I apologise for getting angry with you, clearly we both have different versions of what went on. Is that what you want to talk about?"

Elizabeth shrugged, "I don't know. We don't need to discuss the whole situation of what happened between us just yet, I was hurt badly and I need to come to terms with that. But what I want to know is why you didn't reply to my text and were you really out with your sister the day I left?" she asked.

He looked confused.

"What text are you referring to?"

"The day Rose was born, I took a picture and text it to you. You never replied, I waited for a few weeks for you to get back to me but you never did. I took that to mean that you wanted nothing to do with her or with me." Elizabeth explained.

"I changed phone numbers, my father put us on a family contract which changed my phone number. When I went to look for my old phone to get my contact list in the new one, it went missing. I never found it so I never received your text message," William replied, "As for the other part of your question, I was out shopping with Georgiana for school supplies the day you left."

Elizabeth nodded her understanding, at least one thing was cleared up between the two of them.

"We do need to discuss everything else, why you left so abruptly, why you thought I knew and why I thought you just left because you had gotten what you wanted. But if you're not ready to talk about it then I'll wait for you to decide when you want to discuss it." William said softly.

She looked into his eyes and gave him a small smile, "I've told Rose about you. Ever since last weekend she's been confused and asking questions about it so I gave her a few days to process what happened and then sat her down, I showed her some picture of us-"

"You still have pictures of us?"

Elizabeth nodded, "Why wouldn't I? I might have thought you horrible for breaking my heart four years ago but in a way I'll always be grateful for the perfect little girl I have. As much as I wanted to think she was just mine last weekend, Jane made me see that it wasn't just me who created Rose, it was you as well. And please don't assume that everything is settled between us, we still have a lot to talk about in time and my feelings of anger won't just fade away." she explained.

"I understand. We have plenty of time don't we? Please, continue." William said patiently.

Taking a sip of her tea, Elizabeth continued to make eye contact with him. "I showed her some pictures and she asked how we met, what your name was and if you were her daddy. I said that you wanted to spend time with her and she said that she wanted to see you as well. But she also asked why we were angry and shouting so I had to explain that we were both hurt by silly adult things."

"Silly adult things?"

"I wasn't about to tell my three year old my side of the story and paint you in a bad light. That isn't fair. Rose needs to form her own opinion of her father that's what spending time with her is all about; getting to know each other. But I meant what I said William, if you hurt her just once, I will break your legs."

William smiled and nodded, "You seem more willing to talk to me now." he said surprised.

"When you have a sister like Jane who tries to see both sides of the story, she told me a few home truths that I was being stubborn and selfish not talking this through. I hope that in time we can discuss everything that happened but we need to take this slowly and get on for Rose's sake. There is nothing more important to me than her."

"Look, I'm willing to take this slowly. To get to know Rose and to make it up to you for leaving you to raise our daughter alone, even though I didn't know she existed until a week ago. I can be civil, I can be the man you met in Spain."

Her eyes softened but some hurt still remained, "Will-"

"I mean it, Lizzy." he promised, taking hold of her hand and giving it a light squeeze.

Elizabeth retracted her hand from his and presented him with a large book entitled: _Rose Olivia Bennet._ William looked at the book, knowing it must be some book of memories from the first few years of Rose's life.

"I made you a copy of all the photographs of Rose from her birth up until recently, copies of her hands and footprints at different age stages, copies of pictures she's drawn. I thought it would be nice for you to have." Elizabeth muttered, a little embarrassed by her act of kindness.

"Thank you...this is really nice of you to do that." William said softly.

"Well, she's your daughter as well. Jane suggested that this could be my first act of civility towards you." Elizabeth replied.

"Your sister is quite lovely isn't she?"

Smiling, Elizabeth nodded in agreement, "She's the best of the Bennet girls. Kind, thoughtful, genuine, beautiful."

"Forgive me if I disagree with your statement."

"Meaning?"

"I only know _one_ Bennet girl and although I have seen Jane and spoken with her and she seems lovely, I can't agree with your statement because I don't know your other sisters as much as I knew you."

"You knew me that's correct. Four years goes by and a person can change."

"Well then, I hope that we can get to know each other. Again." William smiled.

"We'll see."

The two of them finished their tea before ordering some breakfast, neither had eaten because Elizabeth had requested an early meeting to talk about some things before they were going to collect Rose from Longbourn.

"Can you tell me a little bit about Rose? Like how your pregnancy was with her, her birth, when she was born, how much she weighed, what she likes or dislikes." William requested.

Taking a bite out of her bacon sandwich she nodded and swallowed.

"The pregnancy was fine, very little sickness and no complications. I was due to have her on the first of May but she came two weeks early on the seventeenth of April. She was born at one in the morning and weighed six pounds and thirteen ounces."

"Were you alone? I hope that someone was with you."

"Jane was in the delivery room with me whilst my Dad waited outside. My mother stayed home with my sisters, she doesn't have much patience for Rose."

"Why not?"

"She thought that I would be throwing away my life by having her at nineteen, that my university and dreams of being a teacher would go down the drain. My mother is quite old fashioned, she believes that I should have been married before having a child. But she has those hopes for all her girls, she's over the moon that Jane is getting married after Christmas." Elizabeth explained.

William didn't know what to say to that and for a moment the two continued to eat in silence until she carried on giving him some facts about their daughter.

"She likes animals, whenever Charles looks after her she's always playing with Dash or the horses. Don't worry, he's always with her when she does go down to the stables, she likes to sneak off sometimes. Rose likes to draw and colour and generally cause mischief where my mother is concerned."

"Mischief?"

Lizzy smiled at the memory, "Two weeks ago, when Jane and Charles announced their engagement to the family, my mother made a comment about getting a grandchild that wouldn't be a bastard. Rose sneezed and had a bogey and wiped her nose on my mother's knitting." she laughed.

William laughed as well, "Will she pull something like that on me?"

Elizabeth shrugged, "We'll see." she said, checking her watch.

The two rose from their table and left the cafe and up the street.

"Did you bring your car?" William asked.

"No I walked here, did you?"

"Yeah, can I give you a lift?"

"Sure. I suppose I should guide you to Longbourn."

The two walked back to William's car and drove back to Longbourn, with Elizabeth acting as a satnav until they pulled up on the driveway. Rose was playing on the grass with Mr Bennet until she saw her mother get out of the car and ran straight up to her. William watched as Elizabeth picked Rose up and brought her over to him.

"Rose this is your dad." Elizabeth introduced.

His little girl looked at him, cocking her head to the side to study him until she slid down her mother's hip and stood in front of him.

"Mummy, he has a weird nose!" Rose declared.

Elizabeth burst out laughing, one of the things that Rose hadn't inherited was William's nose.

"Rosie, that's rude."

Rose shrugged, "You have a funny name. I 'member from the party." she said.

Bending down so that he was at her height level, he smiled at her.

"My name is Fitzwilliam." William replied.

Rose smiled and laughed, "Fizz. Can I call you that?" she asked.

She was certainly a cheeky little madam! Something she had inherited from Elizabeth. His mind flashed back to a few times in Spain where Elizabeth had teased him rotten over various things but he quickly shook his head to rid the thoughts that had come to mind, those teasing times had ended with the two of them in a bed and kissing hungrily and he shouldn't remember such things regarding Elizabeth.

"Rosie, you can call him Will or Dad, it's up to you which one and that's what he is after all." Elizabeth stated.

The little girl looked up at her mother and pouted, "But Fizz is funnier!" Rose whined.

"And we can't laugh at the unfortunate names some parents give to their children." Elizabeth smiled, meeting William's gaze.

William knew that Elizabeth had laughed the first time he had told her his proper name and a part of him knew by the way her eyes were lit up that she was remembering that memory. How he had chased her around the bar when they were supposed to be closing up for the night and how he had kissed her for the first time. Again, he shook his head, not a memory they should be having but he was happy that she was being friendly towards him.

"Where we going?" Rose asked, impatiently.

"I thought we could take her for a walk and to a park somewhere the two of you can play together. And if you aren't disagreeable, perhaps some lunch?" Elizabeth asked him.

"That sounds perfectly okay to me, it's a nice day after all."

Leaving Longbourn, William held hands with Rose as they walked down a country lane; with Elizabeth walking a few paces behind so that she could allow her daughter and her father some time to bond. Rose pointed out several places that she often went to, such as houses of her pre-school friends and Meryton Primary where Elizabeth worked. Eventually they came to a park where the Bennets usually brought Rose to play. Elizabeth sat on the bench and watched as William pushed Rose on the swing.

William listened to the laughs of delight coming from the little girl as he pushed her higher and higher on the swing until she asked him to stop. Rose began to run around the park, playing on the slides and the monkey bars as Will tried to offer his help to which Rose declined the offer, insisting that she could do it herself. Watching Rose run around the park, he decided to sit down next to Elizabeth.

"She's rather energetic." William observed, continuing to watch Rose.

"That she is." Elizabeth agreed.

"A Bennet trait she gets from you?" William asked.

"I believe so, when I was her age my father said I was the same." Elizabeth replied.

Nodding, they both fell silent as Rose went down the slide for the fifth time and ran around to go back on it. To William, it seemed that his little girl loved the outdoors just as much as he remembered Elizabeth loving the outdoors but he had no idea why a three year old had so much energy. He thought that Rose must love living at Longbourn with it's large gardens and space for her to play in. Just the thought that Elizabeth had stayed in her family home when she had given birth to Rose after taking one hundred thousand pounds from his father confused him. It was enough to buy a little house at the very least for the two of them.

"May I ask you something?"

"Yes."

"You took a cheque from my father the day you left, so why haven't you used the money to buy a place for yourself and Rose, why stay at home?"

Elizabeth turned to face him, glaring through narrowed eyes that he knew he had said the wrong thing. But it confused him as to why she wouldn't use that money when his father had told him that she was always after their family's fortune.

"Do you really have a low opinion of me? Do the three months we spent together seem like a lie to you?" Elizabeth asked in a bitter tone.

"No I'm just confused as to why you wouldn't use it."

"If you must know, I never wanted your money. As for why I haven't gotten my own place with Rose, I like living at Longbourn. My father and Jane were a huge support for me when I was having Rose and I don't want to leave just yet." Elizabeth replied.

"But you had a lot of money-"

"I _never_ wanted your money William, I just wanted you." Elizabeth snapped.

William looked at her apologetically, he hadn't wanted to upset her when so far his time with Rose and Elizabeth had been quite nice. To hear from her that she never wanted money from him made him think that something else must have happened if she had never used that money his father had given to her but before he could voice as much, Rose came running up to them stating that she was hungry.

"Shall we head back towards Meryton? There's a family friendly restaurant that I often take Rose to." Elizabeth suggested.

"Yeah! It has a ball pit and slide!" Rose said excitedly.

William took hold of Rose's hand, walking next to Elizabeth as they left the park and walked back towards Meryton for lunch. The entire way, Rose told him about this restaurant they were going to and how the children's play area was so big that she felt that she could get lost in there sometimes. Elizabeth remained silent the rest of the way but not showing whether she was angry with him or not regarding the money topic he had mentioned.

They reached the restaurant and got a table for three, with Rose telling her mother that she wanted a burger for her lunch before running off to play in the play area. Glancing at the menu, he decided on ordering a burger like Rose whilst Elizabeth made her decision of getting a chicken wrap with chips.

"Do you bring her here a lot?" William asked.

Elizabeth nodded, folding the menu and placing it at the edge of the table for the waiter to come and collect.

"She likes the play area here and it gives her a little bit more exercise. Besides, the food is great." Lizzy replied.

They sat in silence again as they watched Rose climb to the top of the play area, heading down the curvy slide and landing in the ball pit on the bottom. As Rose ran out of the ball pit to come over to their table, the waiter took their order and came back minutes later with their drinks. Rose started telling him about her favourite TV shows and what she got up to at pre-school when the waiter arrived back with their food. Thanking the waiter, they tucked into their lunch with William quietly thinking to himself that today hadn't gone too badly after all.

ooOoo

At five o'clock, William bade goodbye to them both at Longbourn and got into his car. Rose was yet to call him 'Dad' or 'Will' but her little girl had already taken a liking to her father and was looking forward to spending more time with him tomorrow at Netherfield. After watching him pull out of the driveway, Elizabeth went inside to see that Rose had already run into the study to see Mr Bennet before dinner whilst she went to the living room to find Jane.

"How did the day out go?" Jane asked, turning down the volume on the TV.

"It went okay for the first weekend. He asked about Rose and I gave him the photo album for him to have." Lizzy replied.

"Did you get your answers about the day you left Chelsea? And about the text message?"

Lizzy nodded and sighed heavily. If William was telling the truth it could only mean one thing; that Reginald Darcy had separated them deliberately and although she had been angry at Darcy senior, for the past four years she had been angry with William too and he had known nothing about it.

"William said that he had been out shopping for school supplies with his sister the day I left and that his father had put them on a family plan for the mobile phone and his old one went missing."

Jane frowned, "So he genuinely didn't know about Rose?" her sister asked.

Elizabeth nodded slowly, "It would appear so." she replied.

"But-"

"I know Jane. It doesn't make sense but the one thing that is clear is that if I believed Reginald Darcy's words about William not wanting anything to do with me or our child then William must have believed whatever tale his father spun about me. After hearing William answer my two questions that I needed to know the answer to now, it's clear that Reginald Darcy was behind our separation. He made it clear from our first meeting that I wasn't good enough for his son." Elizabeth said quietly.

"So, what are you going to do now? I mean, surely his father must want his son to be happy and if being in Rose's life will make William happy, isn't that enough?" Jane questioned, still frowning.

Shrugging, Lizzy bit her lip.

"I don't know what's going to happen Jane. All I know is that Reginald Darcy will never meet Rose. I won't have him hurting my child because of what is in the past between me and William."

"Do you think that he will?"

"If he hasn't changed in the last four years, I wouldn't put it past Reginald Darcy to target me."

"Oh Lizzy, I'm sure William's father wouldn't hurt you again." Jane assured her.

"If there's one thing I know about Darcy men it's that they're determined. If Reginald Darcy sent me away once because he thought I wasn't good enough for his son, who can say that he wouldn't do it again?"

Jane looked concerned as Lizzy voiced her suspicions but they put it to the back of their minds as dinner was announced and the family moved to the dining room, enjoying the usual family meal and Lydia and Mrs Bennet's gossiping about the locals.

ooOoo

William sat in his bedroom at Netherfield, completely exhausted from his first day out with Rose. All week he had been anticipating what it would be like and he had to say that in all scenarios that he had imagined, he hadn't thought she'd be so energetic and welcoming to him. She had spoken to him a lot and played with him and even had sat next to him during their lunch at the restaurant. But she was a delightful little girl, full of life just like he remembered Lizzy.

Before he could ponder more on his talk with Elizabeth that morning, his phone rang. Clicking the answer button and falling backwards on to the bed, he closed his eyes.

"Hello Eleanor." he greeted.

"Fitzwilliam, you sound exhausted." Eleanor replied.

"Well I was seeing my three year old daughter today, she's got so much energy."

"Why don't you come home to me? I can make you a bubble bath and give you a back rub." Eleanor suggested.

"Elle, you know I can't. I'm seeing Rose on the weekends now-"

"It's not just that little girl you're seeing Fitzwilliam. You're seeing that woman as well. Why can't I come with you on these weekends? If you're going to insist on having this child in your life then she needs to be a part of mine."

"It's part of Elizabeth's terms. I have to prove to her that she can trust me with Rose before she allows me to spend time alone with our daughter-"

"Our?! Rub it in why don't you." Eleanor grumbled.

William sighed, he knew his girlfriend hadn't been keen on the idea of him spending his weekends with Elizabeth. He didn't know how many times he could tell his girlfriend that he had to see Elizabeth if he was going to be a part of Rose's life and that they were merely being civil for the sake of their daughter; but still, Eleanor felt threatened for some reason.

"Elle, I'll be home tomorrow night. How about we go out to dinner during the week, let me make it up to you?"

"Are you going to do that every week then? Considering that I've had to give up my weekends with you." Eleanor groaned.

"Eleanor, we can talk about this another time. I miss you, now go to bed. It's getting late and I need to sleep. I'm meeting Rose and Elizabeth for a walk tomorrow morning-"

"Oh go and have fun with _her,_ she's all you've talked about since last weekend. Just remember she took your family's money okay?" Eleanor yelled.

The phone call ended, Eleanor had hung up on him. William chucked his phone on his bedside table and exhaled heavily. Ever since a week ago, his life had changed dramatically. During the week at Pemberley, his father had tried to persuade him to forget about Rose and Eleanor had been in a sulky or argumentative mood whenever the subject of Rose came up. His weekends were usually spent doing shopping, dining out, seeing a movie or something like that with his girlfriend and now he had a daughter that he wanted to get to know. Ever since he had first laid eyes on Rose, he felt connected to her and he couldn't just walk away.

It had been nice to spend that time with Rose and Elizabeth, even though his ex-girlfriend had tried to give father and daughter a little bit of space to bond but it was nice those few moments they had alone together. Elizabeth had proven she could be civil for Rose's sake and it was nice to get a little insight to the environment that Rose had grown up in; seeing the places she played and went to for a meal with her mother and tomorrow they were spending some of the day at Netherfield before having dinner with the Bennets at Longbourn. He hadn't really wanted to invade the Bennet family time but Elizabeth had told him earlier in the week that it wasn't just her approval he needed in order to spend time with Rose. Mr Bennet wanted to meet him properly and know the type of man who was the father of his granddaughter.

Without caring that he was fully dressed or needed to eat something, mostly avoiding dinner with the Bingleys because Caroline wanted gossip on his love child with Jane's sister, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** So my apologies in the delay in updating my stories, as you are aware I had a family bereavement and took some time to support my family through a difficult time. But now I'm ready to start posting again so I'd like to thank all of you who are sticking with me and this story.

There's been a little time jump starting in this chapter, with Will having been in E&R's lives for a month now. Some of you are desperate for Lizzy to open up to Will about what happened from her point of view and whilst I can say it won't happen in this chapter, it's coming in chapter eight.

As always, enjoy and please review.

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At four o'clock that afternoon, Lizzy bade goodbye to her colleagues who were still in their classrooms and left the school, signing out at reception and smiling in greeting as she saw William waiting for her outside. She stood in front of him with ease, it had been over a month since the engagement party and they were both rediscovering the other; and over the past month he had proved his dedication to Rose by keeping to their agreement.

Jane had been constant on the William subject when she was alone with her older sister. Ever since Lizzy had shared her suspicions about Darcy senior with her older sister, Jane had been telling her to share her side of the story with William; he needed to know that it wasn't either of their faults that he had missed out on the first three years of Rose's life, it was his father's. And whilst Lizzy agreed to tell him, she was waiting for the right moment.

"How was work?" Will asked.

"It was fine. Did you walk here?" Lizzy asked.

William nodded, "It appears that spending a month with the Bennet girls, I've become a good walker and I happen to the know the local area a little better now." he replied.

Smiling, she led Will to her car in the teacher's car park and gestured for him to get in the passenger side. Elizabeth passed her bag to William and asked her to place it down by his feet as the two of them buckled up and shut the car doors.

"So, is parent's evening a normal thing for pre-schoolers?" William asked.

"Once a term they ask parents to come in between certain times so that the parent can view their child's progress before starting school." Lizzy replied.

Switching on the engine, Lizzy pulled away from Meryton primary and turned left once she was down the driveway.

"It was nice of you to invite me along." William said softly, looking at her with warm eyes.

Lizzy caught his gaze as they sat at the traffic lights and smiled, "Despite our differences, Rose comes first. You're her dad and I'd like you to see where she goes Monday to Friday."

"Elizabeth-"

But her attention was on the lights changing from orange to green as they continued their journey for another ten minutes before they pulled up outside a large building with the sign telling them it was: 'Appletree day school.". The two of them got out of the car and signed in at the reception before being taken to the classroom where Rose was assigned to.

ooOoo

To see the classroom where his daughter spent her five mornings a week was a different experience. Six weeks ago, he was spending his Friday nights ordering a takeaway with his girlfriend and now he was spending Friday night through Sunday getting to the know his daughter. His life had changed so dramatically since the discovery of his three year old, although he and Elizabeth seemed to be on better terms over the past month. They had these moments sometimes, when Rose would ask about their time together before she was born and the two would reminisce about those hot days and humid nights in Spain, telling their daughter about the different things they did together and when Rose would run off to play in the park or chase Dash around the Netherfield grounds; his eyes would meet Elizabeth's and she looked at him so warmly, her eyes telling him that the time they spent together wasn't regretted.

But he hadn't dared ask her if there had been anyone else in the equation, he didn't want to know the answer. He stated to himself it was because he didn't want to know if someone else had played the role of father in Rose's life but Bingley had said that maybe it was because seeing Elizabeth again after a long period of time had stirred up memories and feelings of how their relationship had ended and it would make him angry if Lizzy had run off to be with someone else because they had loved each other a lot. But whenever his thoughts drifted to that of a faceless man in Lizzy and Rose's lives, he shook his head and thought of other matters.

The classroom was painted in a light green colour and was mostly spacious, with an interactive whiteboard for the children to do activities on, two lots of tables where he guessed the children sat to draw and a painting easel and hooks which held up painting aprons in the far corner. Next to the door was a pinboard where the children placed their picture which the teacher explained was self registration.

"Nice to see you again Miss Bennet." Janet said warmly.

He watched as Elizabeth shook hands with the preschool teacher and the three of them sat at one of the little tables designed for children. William felt awkward sitting in a tiny chair, his long legs up against the table as Janet handed them Rose's file.

"Janet, this is Rose's father William Darcy. Will, this is Rose's preschool teacher, Janet." Elizabeth introduced.

William said nothing as he shook hands with Janet and the two of them started to look through Rose's file. There were mostly reports of things that Rose had accomplished at the preschool and a few pictures of her doing activities with a few of the other children that attended Appletree.

"Rose is doing rather well, she plays with the other children quite nicely. As you know she enjoys painting and drawing mostly, in fact I'll show you one of her more recent drawings in a few minutes." Janet smiled.

"What types of activities does she do?" William asked.

"Well the children have a lot of freeplay, exploring and developing their imaginative skills through play, such as playing in the home corner in yellow room or playing with the doll's houses and rockets ships. We also hold activities during the week to develop their problem solving such as threading activities to help their fine motor skills and hand-eye co-ordination. Once a week we also hold a messy play day where the children get to play with shaving foam, jelly, dried pasta and rice and that helps to develop their speech, language and communication skills by describing what it feels like, if it feels cold. Those are some of the basic ones. There's also a weekly music group that comes to teach the children different songs and instruments." Janet explained.

"So there is quite a lot that she gets up to?"

Elizabeth nodded, "Appletree is one of the preschools that I preferred when I looked around." she said.

"You chose well by the sound of it." Will complimented.

She smiled at him and closed the file, handing it back to Janet before the three of them left the green room and walked down the hall to see a pinboard of some pictures that the children at Appletree had drawn with a coloured piece of card stating that the pictures were 'my family' portraits. Janet pointed to one in the middle that showed three stick figures in the centre of the paper.

"That one was drawn by Rose." Janet said.

On closer inspection of the picture, he saw that the smallest stick figure was supposed to resemble Rose with long curly brown hair and brown eyes, wearing a red dress. The one on the left was supposed to be Elizabeth due to the big two green dots on the figures face and the one on the right, he realised, was supposed to be him.

"The comments made by Rose about her picture were that it was supposed to be her mum and dad but she prefers to call her dad 'Fizz' if that means anything to you?" Janet asked.

William instantly looked down at Lizzy and knew what to expect on her face. Elizabeth was grinning at him from ear to ear and biting her lip when she caught his gaze, evidently trying to stop herself from laughing. In the last month, Rose had only ever called him Will after being told that she couldn't call him 'Fizz' by her mother. Clearly, she referred to him as 'Fizz' when she wasn't around him.

"That's what she wanted to call me when we first met. My full name is Fitzwilliam." Will explained.

Janet nodded in understanding, "Well, regardless of the unusual nickname, Rose is rather fond of you both. She often tells me or one of the other girls that works here what she did on the weekend with her father and that she's happy to have that time with you both as a family."

William smiled at the thought that Rose talked about him to the staff at her preschool, that she was just as fond of him as he was of her. But as they moved away from the pinboard, he noticed the sad look on Elizabeth's face from Janet's words which only made him concerned as to what had upset her. The two of them bade goodbye to Janet and left Appletree, getting back into Elizabeth's car and heading back to Longbourn.

The entire car journey was silent except for the low volume coming from the radio. William wanted to know what was wrong with her, she had been fine up until Janet had shown them Rose's portrait of them as a family. He studied her carefully, her facial expression concentrating on the road in front of them until she cleared her throat.

"Would you like to stay for dinner, perhaps read Rose her bedtime story?" she asked him quietly.

He hadn't been expecting that.

"Of course, I'd like that." William replied.

Lizzy nodded, and turned on to the next lane and drove until she pulled up on the Longbourn driveway. When she switched off the engine, she let out a heavy sigh and went to undo her seatbelt; until he leaned across and stopped her.

"Lizzy, tell me what's been bothering you." he said softly.

She sighed heavily, looking down at her hands as she placed them in her lap.

"It's the picture that Rose drew of the three of us as a family, I feel guilty." she admitted quietly.

"Tell me why."

She looked up at him, those green eyes filling with tears that he knew that the reason behind her guilt really got to her.

"Until today, I never realised just how much you meant to Rose. I see the two of you bonding and connecting with each other every weekend but she talks about you to the staff at Appletree who she only sees for three hours a day, five days a week. She sees us as a family, just the three of us. For three years I was angry with you and I believed mostly that it was your loss for not knowing her but now I realise that it was her loss too."

Before William could process what she had said, Lizzy had unbuckled her seatbelt and exited from the car. He saw that she was heading towards the house and so he hurried out of her car and caught up with her; placing his arm around her wrist and gently pulling her around to face him.

"Elizabeth, I can't say that a part of me isn't angry with you for withholding Rose from me for the last three years. I know you tried to get in touch but I understand that you had your reasons; whatever they are and I'm waiting for you to share them with me." William replied.

"I did try but I should have tried harder! I should have put my own hurt aside, my own prejudices against your father-"

But she didn't finish what she was saying. She looked up at him as he frowned down at her. William wiped away a stray tear from her eye as he continued to feel confused over what she had meant, Elizabeth had mentioned his father; what did his father have to do with anything? Of course, he knew that his father and Lizzy hadn't exactly hit it off straight away when they were together but surely that couldn't have been the only reason Lizzy kept his child from him?

"Elizabeth-"

William didn't get to ask her what she had meant about what she had said regarding his father because the front door opened and Rose ran out on to the driveway; first hugging her mother before leaping into his arms and hugging him tightly. The guilt on Elizabeth's face faded slightly as she smiled at the scene of father and daughter sharing a hug.

"Are you three coming in for dinner or would you prefer to stand there in the chill?!" Mrs Bennet yelled from inside the house.

William chuckled slightly as both Lizzy and Rose rolled their eyes and the three of them went into the house and then followed Mrs Bennet into the dining room. Throughout the meal, he listened and joined in conversation with Lizzy's family, mostly talking to Charles and Jane about their upcoming wedding but occasionally his thoughts drifted back to his conversation with Elizabeth before they were interrupted and couldn't help but wonder if there was more to her keeping Rose at Longbourn for the last three years and he was determined to get more answers from her; despite his promise to be patient.

ooOoo

After William left Longbourn and Rose was fast asleep in her bedroom, Lizzy sat in the living room watching EastEnders on catchup with a glass of wine. Lydia had gone out to a party at a friend's house whilst Mr Bennet was going over the estate accounts. Mrs Bennet had gone to bed early because she had felt a migraine coming on whilst Jane and Charles were still in the dining room planning their wedding. She thought back to earlier about her conversation with William, how she had almost revealed everything behind that day she had been forced to leave. And then she wondered if she had stayed, would they have still been together now? They could have been a real family, they could have made it work but alas, it was what it was. The only thing that mattered was trying to make it up to the both of them somehow for the time that Rose and William had missed with each other.

"Charles, I'll concede and let you choose whatever band you want for the wedding as long as you grant me this request about not inviting him to the wedding!" Jane pleaded.

Lizzy turned around, seeing her sister enter the living room with Charles and paused her TV show. It was very rare for Jane and Charles to have a disagreement.

"But it would be rude not to invite him. I've known him since I was a boy, our families are old friends. He helped me get started out in the business world." Charles replied.

"What's going on?" Elizabeth asked.

Jane turned to her, "Charles wants to invite Reginald Darcy to the wedding."

"But Jane won't explain why we can't invite him."

Now she understood why they were having a disagreement about a wedding guest. Although Charles didn't know it, Jane was looking out for her. But she didn't want her sister and her future brother-in-law to argue over something that was between her and Reginald Darcy.

"Charlie, don't be angry with Jane she's only looking out for me. Reginald Darcy is the reason why I left William four years ago." Elizabeth sighed.

"What do you mean?"

"He found out I was pregnant and told me his son didn't want anything further to do with me or our baby and insinuated that I was trapping William into being a father. So he sent me away in a taxi after he gave me one thousand pounds never to contact them again."

"But surely Darcy wouldn't allow his father to-"

"William doesn't know." Jane explained.

Charles's eyes widened, "Lizzy, you have to tell him. He blames you for keeping him away from Rose, if he finds out that his father was the real person where the blame lies, he wouldn't be angry at you any more." he stated.

"I know that William blames me, I blame myself to a certain extent. I will tell him, in my own time the reason why I left him and didn't try harder when Rose was born."

"But what about the wedding?" Charles asked.

Jane frowned, "What do you mean?" she asked.

"Reginald will expect an invitation, I can't invite him knowing this."

Lizzy sighed heavily, "Charles, Jane, invite him and end this disagreement. But I want you to promise me something if you do."

Both of them looked to her, "Name it." Charles said.

"If you invite Reginald Darcy to your wedding, I want him kept away from Rose at all times. He's not to come within one hundred yards of her, he's to be on the other side of the room at all times. I won't have her getting hurt by that man." Lizzy stated.

Jane looked to Charles and the two nodded.

"Very well Lizzy. You have my word that Reginald Darcy will not speak two words to you and none to little Rosie." Charles promised.

Smiling at her future brother-in-law, she turned back to the TV and continued to watch her TV show from where she had paused it. Now all she had to do was try and keep Rose away from Reginald Darcy when the wedding would take place and find the right time to tell William the reason why he had missed out on the first three years of his daughter's life. Elizabeth knew that both things she had to do weren't going to be easy but she wasn't going to let Reginald Darcy be the reason behind her preventing to do things any more.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** So thank you for the reviews on the last chapter, I appreciate reading your thoughts. As for the confusion over the whole cheque amount; it was a typo that I didn't pick up on. Reg Darcy gave her one hundred thousand not one thousand pounds.

This is the chapter that you've all been waiting for, you get to see William find out the truth about why Lizzy left and the whole cheque thing will be revealed as well- to those of you who are frustrated with me for not clearing that up between them until now.

Lastly, my apologies for the delay in this chapter. I've been trying to get my first university assignment finished which will come first over my stories. Sadly, real life gets in the way sometimes and I also have two children that need my time and attention and care as well as feeling crappy because I'm four months pregnant with my third. But anyway, chapter eight is here and please let me know your thoughts but please don't be brutal.

* * *

Eleanor was beginning to miss her boyfriend on the weekends. Ever since the engagement party it was the one thing that they disagreed upon, her boyfriend spending Friday night through Sunday at Netherfield to spend time with the daughter he never knew he had. A part of her worried though, he was becoming distant from her; just by the time that they spent together during the week he would mention something about Rose when he was supposed to be spending time with her; it was like Fitzwilliam couldn't switch off from his daughter. And then there was the fact that he was spending every weekend with his ex-girlfriend, although Fitzwilliam rarely mentioned this Elizabeth he would always answer her calls or text messages straight away whenever she contacted him and his eyes seemed to light up whenever he did hear from her.

She felt like she was losing him and she felt that she couldn't talk to him about how she felt because whenever she had mentioned that she didn't like giving up her weekends with him, he ended up getting angry with her because the way he saw it she was being selfish about not understanding his desire to spend time getting to know his daughter. She would end up arguing back that he was selfish because he couldn't see that they needed to spend quality time together as a couple if their relationship meant anything to him.

So here she was, yet again, on a Friday night eating in silence in the dining room. Mrs Reynolds would occasionally ask if she needed anything else but she simply shook her head and watched as the housekeeper retired to her rooms for the night. Eleanor looked down at her half finished meal and pushed the plate away, she didn't have the appetite to finish her dinner.

Looking up, she heard footsteps enter the dining room and smiled as she saw Reginald sit down next to her; holding a glass of whiskey.

"You aren't the only one who feels Fitzwilliam's absence my dear." Reginald muttered, taking a swig of his whiskey.

Eleanor sighed, "I just don't understand why he feels the need to spend every weekend in Hertfordshire. If he has to spend time with the little brat, fair enough but why can't the girl just come here?" she whined.

"I told Fitzwilliam the same but apparently he has something to prove." Reginald replied.

"To who? It's that _woman_ isn't it?" Eleanor asked bitterly.

Reginald looked her in the eye and nodded, "When I first met Elizabeth Bennet, I instantly knew that she would be no good for my son and for what I wanted him to achieve. When I found out that she was pregnant, I dealt with the matter and sent her on her way." he said quietly.

"What if she tells Fitzwilliam about what you did? What if he finds out that I knew about his daughter?" Eleanor asked in a frightened whisper.

"She won't if she knows what's good for her and that little brat of hers. If Fitzwilliam finds out of my involvement of why he wasn't able to raise his child then I'll be happy to have that conversation with him but you need not fear, dear Eleanor. My son won't find out that I told you what I did."

"How can you be sure? How can you know that he won't find out everything? That us meeting again after his break-up with Elizabeth wasn't coincidental? What if he finds out that you contacted me and asked me to take him back? What if Fitzwilliam finds out everything that we've done?" Eleanor asked, still panicked.

"He won't! Now take my word for it!" Reginald snapped.

"What am I supposed to do? I feel like I'm losing him Reginald!"

Reginald finished the rest of his whiskey and placed the empty glass on the table before facing her.

"If you want to keep Fitzwilliam's interest my dear then you need to fight for him. Next weekend, why don't you go with him to Netherfield under the pretence of spending time with Caroline Bingley?" Reginald suggested.

"He would never allow it."

"Put your foot down."

"It's not just that, he's so focussed on that three year old-"

"So stop taking the pill and get yourself pregnant with your child and his. That way, he might not be so focussed if he's going to be a father again. New babies need a lot more time and attention than a three year old."

Eleanor couldn't believe that Reginald Darcy was suggesting that she sneakily get herself pregnant with Fitzwilliam's baby just to keep hold of her boyfriend. Of course, she had pictured their future and children were apart of that future; a few boys and girls running around the Pemberley estate with their nanny whilst she came home from work and spending weekends getting lost in Harrods whilst they stayed at the Darcy home in Chelsea.

"Are you really suggesting that I get pregnant? You don't even approve of Fitzwilliam's love child with the summer fling."

"The difference is my dear is that I never wanted my son to end up with someone like Elizabeth Bennet whereas I always wanted him to build a future with you. You are the one that I've always approved of and if you were to find yourself pregnant before he ended up proposing marriage to you, I would support you one hundred percent."

Still in shock at Reginald's suggestion, Eleanor found herself thinking it over. Would getting pregnant save her relationship with Fitzwilliam? If she were pregnant he would have to spend more time with her because pregnancy, although she hadn't experienced it yet, had to be tiring and life changing. Having their child, he would have to stay at Pemberley to help her with the baby and bond with their child. Would it be worth coming off her contraception to conceive a child? She didn't know. But she was going to give it a lot of thought.

ooOoo

Jane had explained the whole story to Charles after Lizzy had revealed the reason why Jane didn't want to really invite Reginald Darcy to their wedding. Of course, Charles was surprised to learn that Lizzy still had the torn up cheque as a reminder of the Darcy pride that had caused her to raise Rose alone for the first three years of life but admired his future sister-in-law for deciding against taking the money.

Elizabeth hardly slept that Friday night. She kept tossing and turning as she remembered how she had almost revealed to him what his father had done before Rose had interrupted them. She knew that she had to tell him but she was scared of what his reaction would be which only made her think of how she might react if their roles were reversed; if it had been her father in place of Reginald Darcy instead. A father was supposed to be someone who could be looked up to, loved and respected and there whenever you needed someone to rely on. As much as she knew she could rely on her own father, she didn't know what William's relationship with Reginald was like and even if it was terrible, it wouldn't be easy to hear what your father had done.

She had got up at five on Saturday morning and showered before dressing and having an early breakfast. Rose had requested that the three of them visit a farm this weekend and both she and Will had agreed; it was something different to do after all. She woke Rose at eight o'clock and ensured that her daughter ate her breakfast and dressed and by ten o'clock, the two of them were stood in the entrance hall greeting William.

"Good Morning Rose, Elizabeth." William greeted.

Rose smiled and hugged her father round the legs, looking up at him through excited eyes.

"Mornin' Fizz." Rose grinned.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, "Rose, we had a talk about that." she said sternly.

Rose pouted slightly before running out to get into Lizzy's car, leaving her parents to stand in the entrance hall; awkwardly looking at each other at what had nearly happened the night before. As much as Lizzy had agreed that she needed to tell William about the cheque; now wasn't the right time. Now, when they were getting ready to have a good day out with Rose wasn't the right time to tell him what his father had done four years ago. Elizabeth knew that there would never be a right time to tell him such devastating news but she had silently made the decision to ask him for a private chat after their day out was finished and Rose was in bed; that way, they could still enjoy a day out without having to put on a pretence in front of their three year old.

She called to her father her goodbyes and went to walk out on to the driveway, only to feel a gentle grasp around the top of her arm stopping her. Her eyes met William's, his look inquisitive to which she guessed he wanted to know what she had meant and nearly told him the night before.

"Elizabeth-"

She removed his hand from her arm and smiled slightly, "We will talk but not now." she said quietly.

"When?"

"Tonight. We'll drop Rose back here for dinner and then I'll drive you back to Netherfield and we can talk there."

William nodded his agreement and with a look of satisfaction on their faces, they left Longbourn and strapped Rose into the car before buckling their own seatbelts and driving the half an hour to the farm down the road.

ooOoo

After paying a small entrance fee and fighting off Elizabeth's attempts to pay him back for her and Rose's tickets, William began to walk around the farm holding his daughter's hand. As always, Rose was pointing out the different animals excitedly and Elizabeth encouraged Rose with lots of smiles and joining in on their daughter's excited nature. But whilst Elizabeth was good at pretending that there was nothing on her mind, he could see the tired look in her eyes which only made him assume that she hadn't slept well the night before.

Before they had been interrupted by Rose the night before, Elizabeth had mentioned something about his father and trying harder when it came to Rose. Whilst he knew that she had tried to get in contact with him, a part of him felt annoyed that he had missed out on so much time with his daughter and it appeared that it wasn't Elizabeth's fault.

He had no idea what she was going to say about his father and a part of him was puzzled. His father had always told him that she had just accepted the money she had been offered and left, saying that she never wanted to see him again. From the first meeting when he had introduced Elizabeth to his father and sister, he knew that his father hadn't approved of Elizabeth but he had always assumed that it was because his father had always had a soft spot for Eleanor and couldn't imagine him with anyone else.

They both watched as Rose participated in feeding some lambs bottles of milk, smiling as she chuckled when they began to lick at her hands before they moved on to help feed some donkeys. After washing their hands, they went to grab some lunch from the little cafe that was part of the farm. Rose and Elizabeth settled on a cheese sandwich whilst he chose a BLT and the three of them sat at one of the small, circular tables.

"What have you liked so far?" William asked Rose.

"Feeding the sheep!" Rose replied with a grin.

"Mine was feeding the donkeys." Will said with a smile.

"Can we go to a zoo next time, please?" Rose asked.

William looked to Elizabeth, seeing if she would be agreeable to a zoo as a day out. Although they usually let Rose choose what they were going to do each Saturday, the nearest zoo that he knew of was London zoo and wanted Elizabeth's input on the idea.

"Of course we can sweetheart, would you like to go next weekend?" Elizabeth asked.

Rose nodded enthusiastically as she finished her sandwich, "Have they got monkeys?"

Elizabeth smiled, "I think so. Shall we see if we can leave you in the enclosure?"

Rose shook her head and stuck her tongue out before turning to him, "Mummy says I'm a monkey." she informed him.

William chuckled, finishing his own food and taking a gulp from his coffee.

"And are you a monkey?" William asked.

Rose merely shrugged and went back to sipping her juice as the adults finished their coffees and they agreed on London zoo as the next day out the following weekend. With their lunch finished and stomachs settled, the three left the cafe and walked towards the exit and into the car park.

ooOoo

The drive home was a quiet one with the only sound coming from the radio. As Lizzy looked into the mirror, she saw that Rose had fallen asleep with her head resting on the left side of her car seat. William was looking out of the window, watching as they drove past the green fields and the now greying sky and she knew that it was going to rain soon; perhaps it was a good thing they had left the farm when they had.

It wasn't long before she pulled up on the Longbourn driveway, switching off the engine and unbuckled her seatbelt. She exhaled lightly and turned to William, smiling slightly as he met her gaze.

"I'm going to take Rose up for a nap and ask Lydia to watch her. When I'm done, shall we go back to Netherfield to talk?" she asked.

"Sure, shall I wait here?" William replied.

Lizzy nodded, opening the door and walking round to Rose's side and carefully took her daughter out of the car seat and lifted her onto her hip. Rose snuggled her head into her mother's neck as Lizzy carried her into the house and up the stairs before she was tucked into her bed with a teddy bear. Lizzy closed the bedroom door quietly and headed into her own room, pulling out a box from underneath her bed and poured the contents on top of her duvet.

Most of the things in there were pictures she had printed of her and William during their time together in Spain, a few seashells, a keyring that he had bought her, along with a few pieces of handmade jewellery that he had bought her at a market. But it wasn't the trinkets or pictures that she wanted. Her hands riffled through the pile of keepsakes to find four pieces of torn up paper that pieced together the cheque that Reginald Darcy had given to her the day she had left.

She had kept those four little pieces of paper as a reminder of the hurt that had been caused. It served as a memory of the belief that she had thought William to have broken her heart which led to her decision to keep her daughter. And it also served as her decision not to accept the money because at the time, having believed to have been cast aside, she didn't want to accept the Darcy money in order to raise her child.

But now, Elizabeth knew better. She knew that William hadn't known about their daughter and she suspected that it was all Reginald Darcy's doing. She suspected that William had loved her and that Reginald had lied to her when he told her that his son didn't want anything more to do with her, that they weren't a lasting romance. And now, she was going to tell William her side of the story, tell him why she had left and she would present him with the cheque to prove that she had never taken the money.

Although they were being civil for the sake of their daughter and things had slowly been improving since the engagement party, it was time to move on and build bridges with William Darcy.

Elizabeth picked up the torn up cheque and placed them in her pocket, tidying the other contents back into the box and left her bedroom. Before she left to get back into her car, she asked Lydia to babysit Rose. Despite some reluctance on her little sister's part, Lydia finally caved in after five minutes of negotiating. Lizzy left, rolling her eyes that she would have to fork out twenty quid for her sister to watch Rose and give Lydia a lift into Watford on Friday night so that she could watch a movie with her friends.

"Sorry I took so long, Lydia can be quite reluctant from time to time." Lizzy apologised as she got back into the car.

"It's fine, actually there's something I wanted to discuss with you." William said.

"What's that?"

"Well...it's half term in three weeks and my sister is home from boarding school for the week. I've told her a lot about Rose and she wants to meet her niece. Of course, our agreement is that it's on your terms but Georgie is really responsible and mature and I think Rose would like her a lot." William replied.

Lizzy thought back to the time when she had met an eleven-year-old Georgiana Darcy and smiled fondly. When she had first met Georgiana, she had been a shy girl and quite quiet but also a rather nice girl despite having a horrible father.

"Of course, why don't you bring her down the last weekend of half term?" Lizzy suggested, starting the engine.

"Thank you." William replied with a smile.

Returning the smile, Lizzy let out a breath and pulled out of the driveway; driving the short distance to Netherfield where she was going to tell Will everything.

ooOoo

The two of them sat in William's bedroom, well the bedroom he usually occupied when he stayed at Netherfield, because he didn't want their conversation to be overheard by a nosey Caroline Bingley; and upon their arrival at the house, Caroline had been eyeing them up and looked like she was dying for a piece of gossip. Elizabeth sat awkwardly on the bed whilst he sat in the chair by the window, twiddling his thumbs together as he waited for her to begin her story. So far, she had said that she needed to go back to the beginning if she was going to explain what she had meant the night before.

"You have to understand, I felt betrayed, hurt that I thought you had broken my heart when I relay to you what happened." Elizabeth muttered.

"In your own time. I'll keep an open mind." William promised.

Lizzy looked down at her hands.

"The day I left was the morning after I found out that I was expecting our baby. I felt scared because it was happening so quickly but I knew how I felt about you and I thought we could figure things out, that we could make a decision together. But when I came downstairs to talk to you privately, your father was stood at the bottom of the stairs." Elizabeth began.

William nodded but frowned, "Carry on." he pressed.

She inhaled deeply and exhaled sharply before continuing.

"Your father held up the pregnancy test and ushered me into his study. He sat me down and told me that you had found the test and felt like I was trapping you. He told me that it wasn't what you wanted, that you wanted to do your masters without the pressure of a child compromising your future and your life and that you didn't want to be tied to a girl that you had only just met. He told me that you didn't really love me, that you admitted that I was just a distraction from the girl you were truly meant to be with."

William felt fury rising within him, his father had told her all of this? His father knew about the pregnancy?

"That doesn't make sense. Why didn't you insist on speaking to me?" William asked.

Elizabeth looked up at him through watery eyes, "I tried! I said that I wanted to hear it from your lips but your father said that you had asked him to deal with the situation. He restrained me from trying to search the house for you and then he presented me with this." she replied.

He watched as she pulled out four pieces of ripped paper and took them from her; piecing them together on the tiny table that stood next to his seat and saw that this was the cheque that his father had told him she had always been after. Will recognised the signature at the bottom of the cheque as his fathers and looked her her in disbelief.

"Your father gave me the cheque and threw me out of the house and told me that I wasn't to contact the family again or there would be consequences. He said that the money would be enough to provide for me and the child but you wanted nothing more to do with us."

"But...you didn't cash it?" William asked, confused.

Elizabeth shook her head, "I never wanted your money William, I just wanted you. It had always been you, the money never phased me. Your father was so convincing...I don't know...I was hurt and confused and scared. So I tore up that cheque and made a decision." she replied softly.

"You decided to raise our child without my family's help."

Elizabeth nodded, "And the day our daughter was born I text you a photo because I wanted to see if you would change your mind, that you would want to be apart of her life if you saw her. When I didn't get a reply from you I believed that even more strongly what your father had said to me, that you didn't want us. I came to the conclusion that it was your loss, not Rose's if she grew up without a father." she said, her voice breaking.

William rose from the chair and paced the room, clenching his fists in anger. It couldn't be true. His father wouldn't withhold his child from him...would he? No, it had to be a misunderstanding, it had to be a mistake.

"I think you should go, I need to process what you've told me." William said, his back to her.

He didn't see her nod but he heard her quiet footsteps on the floorboards and the sound of the door opening and then closing. She had gone. This was too much. His father knew about Rose and that was the real reason why Elizabeth had left because his father had forced her to. But if he confronted his father over Elizabeth's revelation, what would Reginald Darcy say?

It appeared that he didn't know his father as well as he thought he did.

ooOoo

"Eleanor dear, how are you?" Caroline asked as she answered the phone call from Darcy's girlfriend.

"Very well Carrie, yourself?"

"Oh I'm well, helping my brother's fiancé plan the wedding."

"How busy you must be."

"Not very," Caroline muttered, placing her feet up on the sofa as she lay back, "It's a very dull affair and being in the same room as the Bennet family can have a dull effect."

"You aren't the only one affected by the Bennet family, Caroline." Eleanor replied.

"I know dear, it must be truly awful for you that Darcy has a love child with Eliza."

"Actually, that's why I'm calling you. How would you feel about me visiting next weekend?"

Caroline froze, she certainly hadn't been expecting this.

"You can come whenever you like dear, we are friends after all!" Caroline gushed.

A slight pause and she could picture Eleanor feeling relieved and smiling in gratitude. It was no secret that Darcy's relationship had been suffering since the revelation of a love child.

"Thank you, Carrie. You have no idea how much of a life saver you are for agreeing to my visiting." Eleanor replied, relief present in her voice.

"Any time dear. I'll happily help you and Darcy reconcile if it stops Eliza having private talks with him in his bedroom whilst he stays here." Caroline replied, in a friendly manner.

Another pause. This time more tense that she could swear that she could hear Eleanor's nervous heartbeat.

"What do you mean that woman has private talks with Fitzwilliam in his bedroom? Are they alone?"

"Well of course they are dear. Charles is out and about with Jane and Darcy wouldn't allow me into his bedroom. I'm sure it's perfectly innocent."

"But Carrie...things between us haven't been great lately. What if he's straying away from me and thinking of getting back with her?!" Eleanor said with a panic.

"Oh dear, I didn't mean to cause unrest. Elle, I think that perhaps you should talk with Darcy when he returns to Pemberley tomorrow now that you know."

"Oh I will. Thank you for telling me."

"I feel awful dear. You two are closest friends of mine, I wouldn't want to be the cause of any tension between you and Darcy." Caroline said.

"Oh Carrie you never could be. You're a dear friend. Thank you for looking out for me by telling me what that woman is up to with my boyfriend."

"Any time dear, take care."

Caroline hung up the phone and smiled in satisfaction. In truth, she had never seen Eleanor as a friend. She simply saw her as an obstacle in her way of trying to secure Darcy for herself. Of course she knew that Eleanor hadn't taken too kindly to Darcy having a child with Eliza but now she could use Eliza going into his bedroom on this one occasion to try and drive more of a wedge between Eleanor and Darcy, in the hopes that the relationship would come to an end.

But then there was a new obstacle in her way in the form of Eliza and her three year old brat. But Caroline told herself that she could only deal with one obstacle at a time. When Darcy's relationship with Eleanor was over, she would find a way to drive Eliza and Rose out of his life so that she could be there to pick up the pieces when Darcy felt his life was over.

Yes. She would get Darcy and she would stop at nothing in order to get what she wanted.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** Again, apologies for the delay with this chapter. But it's finally here but sadly, you'll have to wait until the next chapter for William to confront his father. In the mean time, I hope you enjoy this one.

The next chapter will be updated between 21st-23rd December.

Please review.

* * *

Saturday night proved to be another difficult night for both Elizabeth and William. She could tell that her story had upset him, perhaps had made him angry and his request that she leave Netherfield had been okay with her; he had, after all, just received devastating news that his father was the reason behind their separation and the fact he missed out on three years with his daughter. But that didn't stop her from thinking about him. On the drive home she had shed silent tears that now everything was out in the open and she was unsure of how things would be from this point onwards.

Rose was still asleep when she arrived back at Longbourn. Jane and Charles had returned from wedding shopping, having booked the caterer for the wedding reception and had been sampling champagne and wine for most of the afternoon. Lydia seemed somewhat happier at the prospect that she didn't have to watch out for her niece any more now that Lizzy was home and headed out with her friends.

"Is Darcy here?" Charles asked.

The three entered the living room and sat down, Lizzy shook her head, "No, he's at Netherfield." she replied.

"Did you tell him?" Jane asked.

"I did and he didn't take it well." Elizabeth replied.

"What is Darcy going to do?" Charles asked.

Elizabeth shrugged, "He asked me to leave whilst he processed it. I might text him tomorrow and we'll go from there."

"I should go and see how he is." Charles said.

With that, Charles kissed Jane goodbye and headed out of the house; leaving the two sisters to sit on the sofa to talk more about what Lizzy had told William about his father.

"Did he shout at you?" Jane asked.

Lizzy shook her head, "No, although he did seem angry. I feel bad, Jane."

"Why? You did the right thing in telling him, Lizzy. He needed to know the truth behind why you left and why he hasn't been apart of Rose's life."

"I know, I had to tell him at some point as time went on. I mean, how much longer could I not tell him? He sees Rose every weekend and we spend a lot of time together. I feel bad because he could have had a really good relationship with Reginald since I was forced to leave and now I've told him a devastating truth and that relationship will be ruined because of me."

"Even if he did have a really good relationship with his father Lizzy, he deserves to know what his father did and it's now up to William to make a decision regarding the information you've shared with him. A decision where his relationship with his father will change and that's not your fault. It never has been your fault, it's Reginald Darcy's fault that you were made to believe that his son wanted nothing to do with Rose and it's also that man's fault that his son believed you to have been after his money and that he missed out on three years of Rose's life."

Lizzy sighed heavily, rubbing her eyes in tiredness. The lack of sleep from the night before was catching up with her as well as what had happened at Netherfield; although she doubted that she would be able to sleep properly tonight either.

"I know he deserved to know the truth and now he does. I just don't know what's going to happen from this point onwards."

"I think you need to get a good nights sleep and then talk to him tomorrow about where you stand with each other. Just remember who the bad guy is in this situation." Jane said softly.

Lizzy nodded, giving her sister a brief hug before leaving the room and climbing the stairs to her bedroom. She shut the door behind her and pulled out the box that held memories of her time with William and looked through some of the photos. A long time ago, she had been blissfully happy with him, even if it had been only a few months they had spent together. They had truly opened themselves up to each other and loved each other but his father had put an end to their happiness. Elizabeth found herself thinking of what might have been if Reginald hadn't interfered, she and William might still be together; still happy with their daughter, a family.

Her bedroom door opened suddenly and she looked up, smiling in greeting as Rose ran across the room and jumped on the bed.

"Nanny says dinner's ready." Rose informed her.

Lizzy nodded, putting the box to one side but Rose pulled out the photos she had been looking at before the interruption.

"What's this?" Rose asked, looking down at a photo of her parents cuddled up on a beach.

"Pictures of me and your dad from before you were born." Lizzy replied.

Rose smiled, "Can I have one?"

"Of course you can."

Before Rose could give her thanks, a shrill shrieking came from the bottom of the staircase.

"Elizabeth! Rose! Come and get your dinner before it goes cold!"

Both mother and daughter rolled their eyes at Mrs Bennet's insistent shrieking an left the bedroom, heading downstairs to join the rest of the family for dinner.

ooOoo

Will didn't know what he was going to do. Never before had he felt this angry and confused about what was going to happen from tomorrow. A part of him wished that he could carry on seeing Elizabeth and Rose each weekend but that would impossible now that he knew his father was the real reason why his relationship with Elizabeth had ended.

Now that he knew the truth, everything would change. His relationship with his father had improved slightly since he had gotten back together with Eleanor nearly four years ago. He ran the estate agent business whilst remaining at Pemberley and he believed himself to be happy with the way his relationship with his father was. But now he knew that his father was a completely different person to the one who had raised him.

There was a knock on his bedroom door and he told the person to enter, only to see that it was Charles who had entered the bedroom.

"Darce, are you okay?" his best friend asked.

Will shrugged, "I take it Elizabeth told you that my father is the real reason behind her leaving me."

Charles nodded, "Sorry mate, what are you going to do?"

"What can I do? If I confront my father he'll deny it, despite having a ripped up cheque when I already know that he gave her money."

"What if you do confront him about this and he doesn't deny it?" Charles asked.

Will scoffed, "If there's one thing that I know about my father, he hates Elizabeth for some reason. If I tell him that she told me that he was the reason that she left and I lost out on three years with my daughter, he'll tell me that she's lying."

Charles sighed heavily, "So, what are you going to do?"

"I have to speak to Elizabeth tomorrow and then figure out what I'm going to do after."

"I'll leave you to your thoughts but if you need anything Will, you know where I am."

William nodded, "Thanks Bingley." he replied.

"Any time Darcy."

Charles left the room, leaving Will to carry on thinking about what Elizabeth had told him. He felt a lot calmer about the information now than he had done when he had asked her to leave but he was still angry at his father. How could a parent keep their own son from a child he had fathered with a girl he loved?! William tried to imagine himself in twenty years time or so with Rose coming to him to say that she had fallen pregnant by a boy that he didn't approve of and although he knew that this scenario was imaginary, he knew that he wouldn't keep his daughter and grandchild away from a boy he didn't like. Reginald Darcy had done just that; kept him from Elizabeth and Rose simply because he hadn't thought Elizabeth was worthy of him. And then there were all the lies that had been spun, for the last four years he had been angry that Elizabeth had left him with no explanation and had taken his family's money when she had never shown an interest in his family's fortune before that August day. Then there were the lies his father had told Elizabeth.

And then the confusion as to why he hadn't responded to Elizabeth's attempt to contact him when Rose was born; his father had changed his phone number and handset when he had put them all on that family plan not long after Elizabeth had left. His old phone had gone missing and to this day he still had no idea where it had gone. At this point he could only assume that his father had hidden it to prevent Elizabeth from getting in touch.

As the clock on the mantel turned seven o'clock in the evening, he didn't care that it was still too early as he changed out of his clothes and into a fresh pair of pyjamas before climbing into bed. At this moment William just wanted to try and get some sleep so that he could arrive at Longbourn tomorrow and make a decision of how he was going to move forward with the information that his ex-girlfriend had given to him.

ooOoo

As predicted, Elizabeth didn't sleep properly through Saturday night and the early hours of Sunday morning. It had been a night that consisted of tossing and turning, occasionally waking up every few hours to see what the time was and eventually, around four in the morning, joined by Rose on the empty side of her bed. At six o'clock, she made the decision to get out of bed and head downstairs. She pulled on her dressing gown and unplugged her phone from the charger and quietly left her bedroom, closing the door lightly to not disturb her sleeping daughter.

When she got to the bottom of the stairs, her phone buzzed.

 _Couldn't sleep, are you awake? Will._

 _Didn't sleep properly and yes I'm awake. Lizzy._

 _Can I come over, we need to talk._

His request surprised her. Yesterday he had asked her to leave, and while she didn't blame him, she hadn't expected him to text her the following day asking to talk more about what she had told him.

 _Sure_

 _I'll be ten minutes_

With that she went into the kitchen to see that Mrs Hill was already awake and in the kitchen where she requested two cups of tea to be made for her and William when he arrived at Longbourn before helping herself to an apple and leaving the room. She knew that she must look a right state, with sleepy eyes and bed hair and the fact that she was in her pyjamas but she didn't care; after all, she reminded herself, it's not like he hasn't seen you like this before.

The door knocked and she went to open it, smiling sleepily up at her ex-boyfriend and moved aside for him to enter the house.

"You look shattered." Will commented.

Closing the door, she turned to him, "I didn't really sleep much last night and it looks like you didn't either." Elizabeth replied.

"I kept thinking about what you told me yesterday, it's been weighing on my mind."

Elizabeth led him through to the living room and sat down on the sofa, gesturing for him to sit next to her.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" Elizabeth asked.

"I want you to know that I'm glad you told me the truth about why you left and I'm not angry with you in this situation."

"You-You're not?" she asked, surprised that he wasn't angry with her for telling the truth.

He shook his head, "I believe that you told me the truth and after spending most of last night thinking it over, it made me realise that my father is responsible for our separation."

Elizabeth sighed, "Everything is going to change." she whispered.

He shuffled closer to her, taking hold of her hand and stroking the back of it reassuringly, "Elizabeth, things changed the night of my best friend's engagement party when I found you again and discovered I had a daughter. The only thing that will change now is that I will be speaking to my father about what happened and we'll go from there."

She frowned slightly, "So, we're okay then?"

William nodded, "We're fine. I'm still going to see Rose every weekend." he promised.

"What are you going to say to your father?" she asked

"First I need to search for further evidence."

"My word isn't enough?"

"I've already told you that I believe you but if I confront my father he'll most likely come up with more lies and I'm sick of him lying to me. I'm leaving in a few hours to stay in London for a few days whilst I look into whether my father is hiding anything else from me."

Elizabeth nodded, "Will you at least have breakfast with Rose before you go, she'll be gutted if you don't say goodbye."

"Of course I will."

During the moment of silence that followed, the clock chimed seven o'clock in the morning and Elizabeth glanced at it; knowing that Rose usually got up at seven and would be coming down the stairs at any moment. And, as if on cue, she heard light footsteps running down the stairs and seconds later; a mass of curly brown hair and an energetic three year old jumped on the sofa. Rose looked up at William, confused.

"Fizz, it's too early." Rose said.

"I came to have breakfast with you and your mum, is that okay?" William asked.

Rose's brown eyes lit up in delight, "Yeah!" she replied excitedly.

Elizabeth watched as William ran a hand absent-mindedly through Rose's hair. Just the way that he looked at their daughter touched her heart, in the six weeks since William had turned up in their lives she had seen him bond with their daughter and in turn had seen Rose bond with the father she had only known for a short while and to Elizabeth, it seemed that William had been there the whole time. There was no awkwardness between father and daughter, there was no hesitation on Rose's part at doing things with William and trust was building between the pair. It made her smile at how good William was with Rose and in that moment, it didn't matter that Reginald Darcy had been the reason behind the fact that they had missed out on being a family, it didn't matter that Rose had missed out on her father or that Will had missed out on their daughter; in that moment, they truly were a little family.

She hadn't realised that he hadn't released her hand as she gently squeezed it that he shifted his gaze from Rose to her and smiled down at her, a warmth in his brown eyes that she couldn't help but smile back at him. It was now that she felt relieved that she had come clean about the real reason why she had left because his eyes told her everything that she needed to know; everything between them was going to be okay from that point onwards.

"Rosie, why don't you go and tell Mrs Hill that we're ready to eat." Elizabeth suggested.

"Okay." Rose replied, getting off the sofa and skipping out of the room.

Both William and Elizabeth followed, releasing each other's hands and noting that nothing else needed to be said at present. All that mattered was that they were both going to eat with their daughter and further discussions on what William was going to do with about his father would wait until he had found the evidence he needed.

ooOoo

Mrs Hill had gone overboard on cooking breakfast that morning. Trays of toast were refreshed every few minutes and fresh batches of bacon, scrambled eggs and beans were presented on the dining table when the rest of the family had decided to wake up and join them for breakfast. For the first time in his life, William found himself full up after being told to help himself to the food by Rose and had found that his daughter had quite the appetite herself. He had watched how Rose had tucked in to countless pieces of bacon and helpings of scrambled egg and toast that he didn't know where she stored all the food she consumed.

"If you hadn't noticed, the little madam has a lot of energy so burns it off ready for the next meal she can eat." Mr Bennet had laughed over the dining table.

It had turned nine o'clock when the family all thanked the housekeeper for the food and went about what they were planning on doing that day. Once Elizabeth and Rose were dressed for the day, they met him in the entrance hall ready to say goodbye for another week.

"Are we going to the park now?" Rose asked.

William knelt down so that he was at her eye level and sighed, "Sorry kid, I've got to go earlier than I said I had to." he replied.

Rose pouted, "Whhhhyyy?" she sang.

"Because there's something important that I have to do but I'll be back here on Friday night. Maybe me, you and your mum could go out for dinner?"

"Okay...but we're having a 'Donald's."

William laughed and ruffled her hair, "I'll miss you Rosie." he said softly.

Rose threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly, "I'll miss you too. Can I talk to you?"

"Of course you can. Any time." William promised.

"I'll use Mummy's phone." Rose informed him.

"Okay, I'll talk to you soon."

Rose let him go and ran up the stairs to her bedroom to play with her toys, leaving him alone in the hall with Elizabeth.

"So...where are you going to get this evidence you want to find?"

"It wouldn't be at Pemberley but he must be keeping something hidden from our time together that will prove his guilt. The only place I can think of is the house in Chelsea." William replied quietly.

Elizabeth nodded, "Well, I hope you find what you're looking for."

"Me too."

A moment's silence passed between them until he said goodbye and left the house. He briefly looked back to see Elizabeth give him a parting smile and a small wave before shutting the front door. William got into his car and buckled up, about to switch on the engine when he pulled out his phone and dialled a number he hadn't dialled for a few months.

"Darcy? It's been a while."

"Richard, I know, sorry. I don't suppose you'd be up for a visitor for a few days would you?"

"It's your house Darcy, I just rent it from my dear uncle." Richard replied.

"Okay, I'll be in London in a couple of hours." William said.

"See you soon."

Richard had hung up the phone as William started the car and pulled out of the Longbourn driveway and started his journey to London; knowing that would be the place where his father would keep anything, if there was anything, to do with his time with Elizabeth.

ooOoo

"Fitzwilliam! It's about time you returned my calls." Eleanor scolded.

She heard the heavy exhale on the line from her boyfriend and could tell that he was exhausted from arguing with her.

"Elle, I'm sorry. I told you that I was visiting Richard for a few days." William replied.

"It's already been three! when are you coming home? There are things that I need to discuss with you urgently."

"I'll be home tonight but only until Friday morning, I'll be heading back to Netherfield for the weekend."

Eleanor felt her blood pressure rising, when would she ever have the opportunity to talk to her boyfriend about his alone time in a bedroom with his ex-girlfriend. When would she have the chance to discuss their relationship with him if he was always putting her on the back burner.

"Well that's what I wanted to discuss with you. Caroline has invited me to stay at Netherfield this weekend for a girl's weekend."

A pause.

"Since when are you and Caroline having a friendship that involved girl weekends?"

Of course he would sound suspicious. But she was going to Netherfield whether her boyfriend liked it or not.

"She wanted to spend some more time together and ask me for some advice about the upcoming wedding."

Another pause.

"Okay but I doubt you'll get much of a chance to spend time with me. We're taking Rose out for dinner on Friday night and then to the zoo on Saturday." William replied.

 _We're. Ugh!_ Just the way he spoke about Elizabeth with such niceties made her want to vomit. This woman had to be charming her way back into Fitzwilliam's good books, who the hell did she think she was?! Fitzwilliam was her boyfriend not Elizabeth's! All Elizabeth Bennet had been was a distraction from the time they had broken up when they had finished their bachelor's at Cambridge. And then she had taken the cheque from Reginald and buggered off, raising a child and left Fitzwilliam heartbroken. She had helped to heal his broken heart from the damage Elizabeth had caused, even if Reginald had asked her to take Fitzwilliam back.

Why didn't he see what he was doing to their relationship by pouring all of his time and attention into that three year old who shouldn't even exist?! Why couldn't he see that he was hurting her by being distant?

"Well I suppose we could travel to Netherfield together on Friday can't we?" Eleanor suggested.

"Of course, I suppose it will save petrol if we use one car."

Is that all he could think about, saving the cost on petrol?! It wasn't as if they couldn't afford to fill their petrol tanks in both of their cars!

"Okay, well I'll see you soon. I love you, Fitzwilliam."

"Love you too Eleanor."

Then he had hung up on her. Eleanor chucked her phone on to the bed and screamed angrily into the silence of the bedroom. All the more determined to get to the bottom of what her boyfriend was up to each weekend with Elizabeth Bennet.

ooOoo

William sat in the empty study at the Darcy home in Chelsea, completely and utterly shocked at what he had found in his father's safe. Having guessed, and guessed correctly, that the combination was his mother's date of birth he had pulled out a bunch of files and asked for his cousin's help to look through them to see if any of the paperwork had a connection to Elizabeth. Most of the files that Richard had looked through were paperwork regarding the Darcy properties that his father wanted to keep under lock and key which also included his and Georgiana's birth certificates, the marriage certificate of his parents until Richard had come across a plastic bag that contained his old handset and charger cable.

Richard had plugged the phone in to charge up in order to see if the phone still worked whilst William continued to look through his own pile until he came across a folder labelled _Bennet, E._ He had looked at Richard and then started to look through the folder. It contained several photographs of a pregnant Elizabeth walking around a university campus with some friends or sitting in the Longbourn gardens with Jane and her other sisters. In the photos showing Elizabeth pregnant with Rose, he examined them closer. Although she was talking or smiling with the other people photographed, it was in her eyes that he could see the hurt at what had happened. He only felt his heart tighten as he realised it must have been really difficult for her to go through all of that on her own, hating him and blaming him for doing the parenting journey alone.

But then he had to sit down as he finished turning the pages on Elizabeth and her background information which had included a copy of her birth certificate, medical records and education records, because he had found something that he definitely hadn't been expecting. After seeing all of the information his father had collected about Elizabeth, he saw photographs of Elizabeth pushing a pram around Longbourn or Meryton and even a few of her sat in various public places feeding Rose and cradling their baby daughter. After the photographs came a copy of Rose's birth certificate, medical records and then bank statements confirming that his father was paying in money on a monthly basis in a child's savings account named: Rose Bennet.

His father had been putting money aside for the grandchild he had 'supposedly' known about for six weeks. Everything his father had ever told him had been a lie regarding Elizabeth and now he didn't just have Elizabeth's story, he had evidence to present to his father and finally confront Reginald Darcy on why he had kept Rose a secret for the last four years. Not only that, his father had practically stalked Elizabeth for the entirety of the pregnancy and the first few months of Rose's life.

"Will, are you okay?" Richard asked, concerned.

He gathered up all of the paperwork and then the phone and charger before looking his cousin in the eye.

"No, I'm far from okay. I'm fucking livid! My father is going to pay for keeping me from my child!" William growled, storming out of the study and up to his bedroom to pack a bag.

It was time to return to Pemberley for a little talk with his 'devoted' father.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:** Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, it means a lot to me that you continue to do so and I love reading what you think of the story as it progresses. Now this is the chapter that you lovelies have all been waiting for. Darcy's return to Pemberley to confront his father. This chapter will have a lot of fireworks and a very angry William. Enjoy.

The next chapter will be updated after Christmas, possibly by 29th or the 30th December but I have a lot of family to visit over the holiday period so I apologise if it comes a few days later.

As always, please review.

Happy Christmas!

* * *

He had no idea how long it had taken him to drive back to the place he had always called home. All he could think about on his car journey from London to Pemberley was the evidence he had found in the safe at their London home, at how his father had deliberately kept him from Elizabeth and witnessing the birth of his daughter, at how he should have been his decision and not his father's. All William knew as he pulled up into the driveway was that he was going to be shouting and yelling a lot at his father.

As he walked through the front doors, he was greeted by Mrs Reynolds who he asked to pack his belongings; saying that he was going to be staying with Charles for a while. Although Mrs Reynolds looked concerned at the angry look on his face, she didn't question what was wrong, she simply walked up the stairs and fulfilled his request that many of his belongings would be packed.

William entered his father's study without knocking, seeing that his father was sat behind the desk reading some paperwork. When Reginald looked up at him, he smiled and that smile made him even more angry with his father. How could someone pretend that everything was okay when he had known about Rose for the last four years?!

"Fitzwilliam! How are you son?" Reginald greeted cheerfully.

But William didn't reply, he simply strode across the room and chucked the folder on to the desk in front of his father. Reginald moved his gaze from the angry expression on his son's face to the folder that he clearly hadn't thought his son would find.

"Where did you get this?" Reginald asked.

"At our house in London. Honestly, if you don't want me to find out that you've been lying to me about Elizabeth for the last four years then I suggest you change the safe combination." William snapped.

"Fitzwilliam, you have to understand-"

"No. You don't get to talk. You have known about my daughter for the last four years, you are the reason that I haven't been a part of her life. You are the reason why I've been angry at Elizabeth for not explaining to my face why she left and you have spun lies to both of us in order to keep us apart!"

"Fitzwilliam, she was never any good for you! You needed to be with Eleanor, she's the one you belong with, the one you could have a real family with. Elizabeth Bennet isn't from the same background that you are, she has to work for a living because her father's estate is poorer than ours!" Reginald said.

"And that's why you deliberately asked me to take Georgie out that day to buy school supplies? Because you found the pregnancy test and knew that Elizabeth was carrying my child? You wanted me out of the way, why?"

"You know why! I wasn't about to let you throw away the chance for you to complete a master's degree. You came back from Spain with this girl who was the complete opposite of how I wanted you to live your life and you didn't seem to care about what you would be giving up if you stayed with her. When I found out Elizabeth was pregnant, yes I asked you to take your sister shopping and took care of the mess you had gotten yourself into. I sent her on her way with a cheque and kept an eye on her during her pregnancy to make sure that she didn't attempt to contact you. And in keeping that brat and girl away from you, you completed your masters and got back with the girl you are truly meant to be with." Reginald yelled.

"You had no right to make those decisions for me! That 'mess' as you call it wasn't a mess! I loved her, she's the mother of my child and we both deserved the chance to be together to raise our child. I deserved the truth from you, I deserved to know that I had a child out there who needed me and a woman who gave me that child deserved me to be by her side during everything she went through! And now, thanks to you, I've missed out on three years with my beautiful, incredible little girl and four years loving Elizabeth!" William shouted.

Reginald felt stunned at the last part of William's shouts.

"You...you still love that country fling...don't you?" Reginald asked, scoffing in disbelief.

William felt his jaw tighten, "I have missed out on so much because of you. I get that you wanted me to live my life a certain way but these were supposed to be MY decisions. It was supposed to my choice to be with Elizabeth, it was supposed to be our choice on whether or not we were going to be a family, it was supposed to be my choice if I carried on with a master's degree or not. You have been making the decisions and lying to me under the pretence that you think it's for my own good!"

Reginald chuckled darkly, "Oh my son! That country girl can't make you happy. You might dream of living a simple life with that girl and your bastard child but you're a Darcy. And Darcy's will always live the way we always have; enjoying the riches we have and the circles we make our friends in."

William punched the desk, ignoring the pain in his hand and wrist whilst his father jumped up from his chair in surprise.

"If you didn't care about 'my bastard child' so much, why are you saving money for Rose on a regular basis?"

"Well that's simple isn't it. Putting money into a savings account for that child each month ensures that when she's old enough to come looking for answers to her questions, the money will be enough to prevent her from accusing our family of not providing for her." Reginald answered.

William scoffed, "That's your reason? To stop her from making a claim to our money? our assets? To prevent some sort of scandal from coming out if that day were to ever come? Were you hoping that I would remain blissfully unaware of the fact that I had a daughter out there that you had to resort to taking efforts to ensuring that the Darcy's didn't have any embarrassment?"

"I did it for you. For the family. You should never have found out about this child and you would have gone on to marry Eleanor and have children with her, your _true_ children. This one might have half your blood and genetics Fitzwilliam, but she's a Bennet and always will be." Reginald replied.

Shaking his head, William looked his father in the eye. It was now he realised how much of a pathetic excuse of a person his father truly was and he wasn't going to end up like his father. He was going to put an end to his father's lies and secrets but most importantly, he was going to be what a father should be.

"This is the last time I ever want to set eyes on you. You have been a poor excuse for a father ever since my mother died. You make these decisions based on what you think we should do with our lives without a thought for what would make me and Georgie happy. I'm putting a stop to that, I'm going to be a better father to Rose than you ever were to me." William vowed.

Reginald raised an eyebrow, "How are you going to do that?" his father asked.

"That's none of your business or concern. Think of this as an opportunity to reflect on the bad decisions you've made and I don't know, maybe you still have a chance of redemption with Georgiana. And believe me, if I find out for one second you've made my little sister unhappy then I'll give you a taste of your own medicine!"

"And how would you do that exactly?"

"If I find out that you're hurting Georgiana in any way, I'll take her away from you. I'll look after her and you won't see either of us ever again. Maybe then you'll realise how it feels for me to be kept away from a child that's yours."

Reginald glared at him and stood from his chair, "You wouldn't dare take Georgiana away." he hissed.

"You want me to be a Darcy so badly? Don't push me into becoming like you!" William shouted.

As he turned his back on his father and left the study, not looking back on his father. With his heart still pounding in rage, he climbed the staircase and walked to his bedroom, seeing that Mrs Reynolds had packed two suitcases of clothes for him but the housekeeper had been prevented from packing any more of his belongings. In the bedroom, Mrs Reynolds merely looked on at his girlfriend in silence. As William looked at his girlfriend, he saw that Eleanor was holding the dusty shoebox containing memories of his time with Elizabeth.

"Eleanor-"

His girlfriend looked up at him through watery eyes, "Fitzwilliam, what is this?" Eleanor whispered.

Mrs Reynolds quietly left the bedroom, not wanting to get in the way of an argument between the two of them. William sighed, he hadn't been expecting the shoebox to have ever been discovered.

"You know what it is. A box of memories." William answered.

"I can see that. Pictures of you and that...that _whore!_ " Eleanor hissed.

"She's not a whore! She's the mother of my child-"

"Please! Don't pretend to me that she's nothing more than that to you."

"Elle, it's a box of memories from a happy time in my life and I thought that one day I could give it to Rose to show her the time I spent with Elizabeth." William explained.

"You don't have anything like that of our time together and we have been together on and off a lot longer than you were with Elizabeth Bennet." Eleanor pointed out.

William sighed, the last thing he wanted was to get into an argument with his girlfriend about Elizabeth when he had just disowned his father.

"Eleanor, please, can we talk about this another time? Right now, I need to get out of here. I've just found out that my father lied about Rose, he knew about her since the day he forced Elizabeth to leave-"

"Why do you care so much?!

"I don't expect you to understand. But right now, I've just found out that my father has lied to me for the last four years and deliberately kept me from my daughter. Now, I'm going to go and stay with Bingley for a while, it's your choice whether you come with me or not." William snapped.

Nothing more was said as William snatched the box from his girlfriend and left the room with his suitcases; for now he had everything he needed from Pemberley and when he made a further decision on what he was going to do, he would send for the rest of his belongings.

ooOoo

It had only been ten minutes since her boyfriend had departed from Pemberley with the shoebox and two suitcases full of his clothes and shoes having found out the truth of Reginald's decision to separate Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth but Eleanor had already packed a suitcase and was rushing down the stairs, only to be stopped in her tracks at the bottom when Reginald blocked her way.

"He's gone. He knows my secret." Reginald hissed to her.

"Reginald, I'm sorry. I have to go after him, I can't lose him." Eleanor replied apologetically.

"You have to help me. Talk to Fitzwilliam, tell him I did it because I had his best interests at heart."

"What makes you think that he wants to hear that at the moment? Reginald, I promise that I will do what I can to get William back to Pemberley but at the moment he's very angry and I have to ensure that my relationship with him isn't lost like yours is." Eleanor said.

Reginald glared at her, "Don't forget my girl, you had a part to play in this as well." he whispered.

Eleanor frowned, "I wasn't the one who hired a private investigator and lied to two people in order to keep them apart."

"No you weren't but you were agreeable in getting back with my son in order to take his mind off of that country girl and you've known the whole time about my son's child."

"And if I don't help you...you'll reveal my part in your deception to Fitzwilliam?"

Reginald nodded and chuckled darkly, "And how do you think Fitzwilliam will feel if he learns he wasn't only betrayed by his father but by his loving girlfriend as well?" he asked.

Eleanor shook her head, "You wouldn't tell him. He wouldn't believe you. If you tell him, you know for a fact that he would turn Georgiana against you." she stated.

"I can get to Georgie first, she's a good girl."

Knowing that Reginald had leverage over her, she sighed. There was no way that she could fight against Reginald because it would mean that she would lose her boyfriend for good if Fitzwilliam ever found out about her involvement in his father's deception. At the moment it felt that her boyfriend was already slipping away but there was a good chance that she could get him back by going after him.

"Fine. I'll do everything that I can to convince Fitzwilliam that you were acting in his best interests if you keep my part in your deception a secret. Fitzwilliam can never know that I've known about the child for the last four years." Eleanor sighed.

Reginald smirked with satisfaction, "You have a deal my dear. Now, you have a car journey to start. Say hello to the Bingleys for me." he replied.

Eleanor watched as he walked away before she ran out of the house and on to the driveway where she flung her suitcase into the back seat of her car and started the engine. If she was quick, she would be arriving at Netherfield not long after her boyfriend would be.

ooOoo

Elizabeth stood on a step ladder in her classroom after her class had all gone home with their families, pinning up the latest display work that her pupils had done in art hour. The project had been to paint a memory and then write on a piece of paper what the painting they had done represented. Most of the paintings showed birthday parties, trips to a theme park or a holiday destination and were brightly painted in every colour that the school could possibly possess.

It was as she stood on her tiptoes to staple one to the very top of the display board that she didn't hear footsteps enter her classroom until she had stapled the work to the board so hard that she nearly tumbled backwards. It was then that she realised, as she felt strong hands on her hips to support her weight on the step ladder, that a man was in her classroom.

She looked down and frowned as she saw the last person that she had expected to see on a Wednesday afternoon.

"Will?" she asked.

"Caught you just in time. I thought you had a good sense of balance considering the amount of time you spent climbing tress as a child?" he teased.

His teasing caught her by surprise.

"What are you doing here?" Elizabeth asked.

William released his hold on her hips when it was clear that she wasn't going to tumble off the ladder and cleared his throat.

"I'll be staying with Charles for a while, until I get myself sorted."

Elizabeth punched in another three staples to the other corners of the painting before stepping off the ladder and facing him, placing the stapler on top of the last few paintings.

"What happened?"

"I found the evidence that I was looking for. I found my old handset and charger but that wasn't all."

"It wasn't?"

"No. I found out that my father hired a private investigator to keep tabs on you throughout the pregnancy and for a few months after Rose was born. My father had everything single piece of information about you hidden in a file in his safe at our London house. He also had every single piece of information about Rose, including a savings account that he had set up in her name and has been paying into on a regular, monthly basis since her birthday." William explained.

Elizabeth's eyes widened, "He's been saving money for her? How is that even possible, he would need-"

"A copy of her birth certificate? Yeah he's got one and a copy of yours. The evidence was concrete enough for me to confront him with no possible way for him to deny what happened. He admitted everything, including the fact that the savings account was to prevent Rose from accessing the Darcy fortune and assets should she have come looking for answers when she was old enough. My father had made the assumption that I would be blissfully ignorant of the fact that you gave birth to my child."

"He was hoping that we wouldn't have met again." Elizabeth said quietly.

William nodded, "Of course, it just so happens that my best friend is marrying your sister so fate had other ideas." He laughed.

Elizabeth couldn't help but smile, "It's funny how you can laugh at your father's betrayal." She commented.

His laughter and smile faded, "I'm still angry but I feel better now that it's out in the open. I left Pemberley and told him that I was finished with him. All that matters to me now is this." William stated, taking hold of her hand and giving it a light squeeze.

This?

The look in his eyes was one that she had seen the first time he had told her that he loved her all those years ago, it was one that she had tried to forget several times but had failed miserably. A part of her screamed at her to look away, to step away and close her heart off but her eyes were defiant to any common sense. Green eyes locked into brown, lips grew wider into bigger smiles and hearts were beating faster in a happiness that she hadn't felt in so long.

She didn't stop him when his free hand caressed her face or when it tucked that stray lock of hair behind her ear, the one that always fell out of place from behind her ear. And when that part of her that was screaming at her to have some common sense told her that he still had a girlfriend, she still didn't stop him.

"We could have been a family, we could have been happy together and that's why I disowned my father," William whispered, "because he's the reason why I have missed out on so much time with Rose and so many experiences that I should have shared with you."

Elizabeth nodded and squeezed his hand, "There's a lot that we should talk about- "

But she couldn't say anymore because of the three sharp raps of knuckles on her classroom door. Immediately, the two of them sprang apart to look in the direction of the door.

"Oh, sorry to interrupt. Lizzy, are we still on for tomorrow night?" Matthew asked.

Lizzy could have glared daggers at her best friend's brother but merely nodded.

"Yeah of course, who's coming?" she asked.

"Charlotte, Marie and this new guy I want you to meet that I met through speed dating at the Horse and Crown." Matthew replied.

Elizabeth smiled, knowing the whole reason for this night out at the pub for 'after work drinks' was actually so that her best friend's brother could show off his new boyfriend.

"Can't wait. Matt, this is William Darcy. Will, this is Matthew Lucas, he's my best friend's older brother."

"The famous William Darcy?! It's nice to see where little Rosie gets her good looks from." Matthew gushed, winking at her ex-boyfriend.

"Ummm…thank you." Will muttered.

"Well it's nice to put a name to the face, Lizzy never stops talking about you these days." Matthew informed William.

Elizabeth flushed a little bit, it wasn't as if she went on about Will to her colleagues as if she had a school girl crush. It just so happened that on Monday mornings before the kids were allowed in to classrooms that she would be finishing her cup of tea and her colleagues would ask her what she did at the weekend, and she would tell them what she got up to with William and Rose.

"Well, I'd better go. Night Lizzy, night William." Matthew said.

"Night Matt."

Lizzy ascended the step ladder to finished putting up the last few paintings on the display board, the moment between her and William was gone and now she was feeling guilty as she listened to common sense. Her relationship with William ended four years ago, regardless of whatever the reason was, and now he was with someone else. Despite her dislike of Eleanor from the one time she had met William's girlfriend, she wasn't going to be the one to break them up. She also had to consider Rose. Any feelings that her moment with William had brought up had to go because if they ever tried to make another go of their relationship and it ended again, her daughter would get hurt most of all and that was something that she would never do.

ooOoo

William arrived back at Netherfield after saying goodbye to Elizabeth in time to be greeted unexpectedly by his girlfriend. His departure hours earlier from Pemberley hadn't exactly gone smoothly and he had been sure that Eleanor would remain at his father's side, the two were extremely close. So to be kissed and hugged by his girlfriend came as a surprise.

"Eleanor, I didn't think-"

"That I would come after you? Why would you think that?" Eleanor asked sweetly.

The two walked in the direction of the terrace to take a walk through the grounds, it was a place to talk without being overheard by nosey younger sisters of his best friend.

"Things between us haven't been great lately." William pointed out.

"Well, you've been distracted by that child and I imagine that you've been feeling guilty that you've had to leave me behind-"

Well that wasn't exactly true. Of course he felt bad that Eleanor was feeling lonely but he didn't feel guilty at putting time with Rose ahead of spa weekends and shopping weekends with his girlfriend.

"But I thought that if I stayed here with you then that way you could still have me and your daughter. Of course, that's also another thing I've been thinking about, the fact that you have a child."

"What about the fact I have a child? You know that Rose and Elizabeth are important to me."

Eleanor frowned at the mention of Elizabeth's name.

"Of course. But I've been wanting to talk to you about a few things. Firstly, I'm not comfortable with the amount of time you're spending in the company of your ex-girlfriend, you've kept your word by seeing your child every weekend, isn't it about time that you amended the agreement to having Rose just by yourself for a couple of hours every Saturday and Sunday?"

Eleanor had a point, he had been keeping his word. But did he really want to amend the agreement when his time with Rose and Elizabeth was going so smoothly and seemed to work well for the three of them?

"I don't think so, Rose needs to see that Elizabeth and I can get along."

"But you're so focussed on the Elizabeth part of it, you keep a box of keepsakes. I think that some of your old feelings are resurfacing and I get that, but Fitzwilliam, you also made a commitment to me. You said you loved me."

Again she had another point. He had been the one to ask Eleanor to move into Pemberley with him all that time ago but he had been a different person back then. Back then he had locked away his feelings for Elizabeth a long time ago and having spent so much time with her, those feelings had been unlocked and he didn't want to lock them away again.

"Eleanor, I just need some time to figure things out in my own head. Some space apart from you. My life is just a mess at the moment and the only thing that makes sense to me is that Elizabeth never betrayed me, my father did. I also have this child to commit to now-"

"But Fitzwilliam, we don't need to break up."

"I'm not what you need right now Elle-"

"Fitzwilliam, the other thing I wanted to discuss with you is that whilst you have this connection to Elizabeth Bennet, it's because the two of you share the one thing that you and I don't. I want us to have a baby. I want us to have a family, I want your baby, I've always wanted it. I want us to get married."

William felt stunned. He had wanted to tell her that he just needed some space to get his head sorted and to make a decision about who he wanted to share his life with until his girlfriend had dropped this bomb on him. Starting a family with Eleanor would be the wrong decision and making a new commitment to Eleanor would be for the wrong reasons.

"Elle, now isn't the right time. I think you need to move back in with your parents whilst I stay here and clear my head-"

"Or you mean so that you can spend more alone time with Elizabeth in your bedroom here?! How long has it been going on Fitzwilliam? How long have you been cheating on me with your country whore? Playing happy families with that little brat. If I had known that Jane was Elizabeth's sister, I would never have allowed you to attend that stupid engagement party. Hell, you can keep it going for all I care because I'm done doing what your father asks me to do!" Eleanor screamed.

As she tried to turn to walk away, he grasped her arm to stop her from leaving. She was hiding something, something about his father.

"What are you talking about? What has my father asked you to do?" William asked.

The look on Eleanor's face had gone from complete anger to utter panic at the realisation that she had said too much.

"It's nothing, I'm leaving!" Eleanor said, too quickly.

"No. Tell me. Eleanor, what has my father asked you to do?" William demanded, his teeth gritted together.

Eleanor gulped, not meeting his gaze, "He asked me to come here to do everything I could to make you see that everything he had done was for your own good." She muttered.

William narrowed his eyes, there had to be more to it.

"What else?"

Eleanor blinked, trying to stop the tears from falling out of her eyes involuntary.

"He…he…he said that if I didn't he would tell you the truth and that both of us would lose you." Eleanor cried.

"How would you lose me?"

"I already was. I was trying to hold on to you. Four years ago, after Elizabeth had left you, your father got in touch with me and asked me to take you back, to take your mind off of that country slapper and I agreed. I found out that your father had sent her away because she was pregnant and that if I took you back it would make you forget about your summer fling and it worked. We were happy, we could have had something, a family, a marriage but that engagement party changed everything for us. You've been shagging her behind my back and pushing me aside."

William let go of her arm, "Get out of my sight, you're no better than my father." He growled.

"Fitzwilliam, please. I had no choice-"

"You had no choice? Not only have I found out that my father has been making decisions and plotting behind my back, you've been doing the same! You knew I had a daughter, you should have told me when you found out. Any decent human being would have done so!" William shouted.

"If I had told you, you would have run straight to that country slapper and forgotten about me! I love you Fitzwilliam! I always have, she will never love you the way I do!" Eleanor sobbed.

"Just go. I never want to see you again!" William growled.

He turned his back on her and went back inside the house. It wasn't every day that you found out that the ones who were supposed to care for you would betray you in such a deceitful way.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N:** So I hope that you all had a lovely Christmas, I certainly did. I'd like to thank those of you who reviewed the last chapter, I hope that you will continue to do so. Just a word of warning, the rating of this story has been changed from T to M because of a little part of this chapter that would be deemed unsuitable for a T rating.

Just a head's up, I'm away visiting family the first week of January so the next update for this story will come on the 7th-11th January.

* * *

She had no idea why she had even agreed to this. There were other things she'd rather be doing on a Thursday night then putting on a fancy dress and heading out to Watford to meet Eleanor. She'd much rather be in the comforts of her own home, running a bubble bath and trying to take Darcy's mind off his latest troubles.

But no. Here she was, dressed in her best plum dress and matching headband, walking into a high street restaurant and scanning the room until she found a pathetic looking blonde sat at a table for two. Caroline sighed inwardly, planting the best smile she could on her face as she walked through the crowded restaurant and sat in the empty seat at Eleanor's table.

"Thank you for coming Carrie." Eleanor greeted.

"Oh it was no trouble; I'll always make time for you Elle." Said Caroline, placing her clutch bag at the edge of the table.

"I've ordered a bottle of wine to share, is that okay?"

Caroline nodded, "Perfect dear. Now tell me, what's the matter?" she asked.

Eleanor sighed deeply, her eyes starting to fill with tears. _Oh great!_ Caroline thought to herself, _I didn't sign up to console a woman who was stupid enough to lose Darcy!_

"Ever since Fitzwilliam and I went our separate ways two weeks ago, I can't seem to find a reason to go on."

"Oh dear, I can only imagine how much you're hurting right now."

"I feel like I'm dying, Carrie. He won't return my calls, texts and I doubt he's even listened to my voicemails. I only lied to him to protect him, he was hurt so badly by that whore's departure. Reginald said that keeping Fitzwilliam in the dark about the child was for his own good and for four years, it worked. We were going to get married, have a couple of kids and live at Pemberley for the rest of our lives. And then we come to your brother's engagement party and everything changes!" Eleanor replied, somewhat pathetically.

Caroline smiled sadly as the waiter took Eleanor's order whilst she settled on ordering the lasagne. It seemed that she would have to play the concerned friend and listen to Eleanor rattle on about how heartbroken she was when it was her own fault that Darcy dumped her.

"Darcy is quite angry at both you and his father and whilst I sympathise with you, Elle, I can't say that I blame him. His father lied to him, the person who raised him from birth and then he finds out that the woman he loves also betrayed him? Of course it's perfectly natural to not want to return your calls or text messages." Caroline said.

Eleanor frowned, "But, I did it to protect him. Reginald, he said it was for his own good-"

"Oh I'm not saying that you both didn't have Darcy's best interests at heart, I'm sure you did. What I suppose I'm trying to say Eleanor dear, is that I can see both sides of the argument. I can see your side and I can also see why Darcy would be hurting."

"What am I going to do?!" Eleanor whispered desperately.

The waiter came back over to their table and poured them both a glass of wine before placing said bottle into an ice bucket and leaving to check on how much longer their food would be. Caroline took a sip from her glass, watching as Eleanor placed her head in her hands and started to cry.

"Elle, pull yourself together. I'm sorry that you have to go through this but you must get a grip. Wallowing in self-pity isn't the answer dear." Caroline tutted.

Eleanor looked up at her friend, wiping the tears from her eyes and sniffing slightly.

"What would you suggest then Carrie? How do I get Fitzwilliam back?"

"I think you give him some space, let him calm down and get his head around the idea. I can tell you when he seems to have gotten over his anger and then you can arrange to meet with him and plead your case. Of course, I'll also help you in that department by talking you up to Darcy. But, there is something that I need you to do which I can't get involved in." Caroline said quietly.

Eleanor leaned in a little closer, "What is it?" the blonde asked.

The redheaded woman smiled, "Eleanor, there is also another obstacle standing in your way. You need to ensure that if you have a future with Darcy, then you need to get rid of the woman who threatens it all." Caroline muttered.

Eleanor's eyes glared, "Elizabeth Bennet!"

Caroline nodded, "You're aware of the fact that Eliza and Darcy have been getting very close as of late. In fact, it was part of the reason why the two of you broke up. So if you want to get back to having that perfect future with Darcy, you need to get rid of his ex-girlfriend."

"And what about the brat?"

"Eliza will take the brat with her, naturally. If there is one good thing that I can say about Eliza Bennet, it's the fact that she's devoted to that child more than anything else."

"Even more than Fitzwilliam?" Eleanor questioned.

Caroline nodded, "Nothing is more important to her than her daughter." She confirmed.

Eleanor frowned, "May I ask why you can't help me get rid of her?"

"Of course. You see, Jane Bennet is marrying my brother and Charles knows how much I don't like the Bennet family, the whole bunch of them are ridiculous. It's a miracle that Jane isn't as insane as the rest of them. If I played a part in getting rid of Eliza, my brother would have grounds to kick me out of my family home and cut me off from my inheritance. Those are not worth losing over Eliza Bennet." Caroline explained.

Eleanor smiled positively for the first time since Caroline had arrived at the restaurant and raised her glass.

"To friends helping friends." Eleanor declared happily.

Caroline smiled in return, lifting her own wine glass and clinking it with Eleanor's. This was all too easy! Now that Eleanor was convinced that she would be getting assistance, it was only a matter of time before Caroline Bingley would be getting rid of all obstacles in her way of becoming the next Mrs Darcy.

ooOoo

Just outside Meryton, another two women were also meeting for a meal. It was half term week and a much needed week off from teaching for Elizabeth, finding it nice that she could actually meet up with her best friend for some adult time.

"So, the father of your child is now back on the market?" Charlotte asked.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes as she paid for their drinks. It was on one of these rare occasions that Lydia had agreed to babysit Rose so that she and Charlotte could go out for girl's night out and ever since she had met her friend outside the local Wetherspoon's she had mentioned the fact that William had told her that his relationship with Eleanor was over.

When her ex had told her that Eleanor had known about Rose and had failed to mention it, he had ended the relationship and was in a bad place at the moment. The only thing that seemed to keep him going was spending time with Rose and so she had allowed him to pick their daughter up from pre-school twice a week and spend the afternoons together. Rose seemed to enjoy seeing her father a lot more and it seemed to be taking William's mind off of the betrayals he had experienced.

"Yes he is. I've already told you this. Twice." Elizabeth replied.

The two women took their drinks from the bartender and walked through the crowd to sit at an empty table. Charlotte began sipping at her cocktail, eyebrows raised at Lizzy.

"And how do you feel about this news?" Charlotte asked, pretending the question was entirely innocent.

Lizzy shrugged, "It's none of my business." she replied.

Charlotte snorted as she took another sip before rolling her eyes.

"Oh come on Lizzy! You never shut up about the bloke, you spend a lot of time together with him-"

"May I add that the time spent with him is also spent with our daughter."

"My brother also told me that you were practically close to kissing before he interrupted you that time." Charlotte teased.

Lizzy felt her cheeks flaming a little as she sipped on her straw, Matthew was such as gossip when it came to his younger sister.

"So, be honest. You still have feelings for William Darcy, don't you?"

Lizzy shrugged again, "Seeing him again...it's brought up old feelings I suppose." she muttered.

"And?"

After taking a gulp from her cocktail, Elizabeth pulled out the menu and started to browse through. She knew what Charlotte's interrogation was all about.

"I'm not going to act on these feelings, Charlotte. I can't." Elizabeth stated, still looking at the menu.

"Why not? If it gets you a little action and a little bit of time not being a mother-"

"I'm perfectly content with putting all of my time and attention on Rose-"

"I'm not saying that you are bad mother Lizzy, you're far from that. But you're also twenty-two and haven't slept with anyone in four years. You haven't even had a relationship in the last four years and I'm worried that you're a little lonely." Charlotte said quietly.

Elizabeth looked up from the menu, "I don't have time for a relationship."

"You always say that."

"Because it's the truth."

Charlotte shook her head, "I get that working as a teacher and having a toddler is time consuming but you also need to put yourself first now and again."

"If I even considered having a relationship with William again after all this time, I can't take the chance that it might end." Elizabeth sighed.

Charlotte frowned as she took the menu from Lizzy to have a look through herself.

"Why would you think it would end? Lizzy, it's obvious that the two of you are having those feelings. So why are you so afraid to take that risk?" Charlotte asked.

"Because of Rose. Despite the fact that spending so much time with William since he reappeared into our lives has awakened these old feelings, I can't take the risk with him because it already has ended before. If it ended for a second time, I'm not the only person who would get hurt. Rose would as well and I always said that I wouldn't hurt my daughter in any way." Elizabeth answered.

"But how do you know it would end?"

Lizzy rolled her eyes, "You know, when you suggested a girl's night out I didn't think I would be interrogated on something that is never going to happen."

"It will happen. Of course, he needs some time to get his head around his double betrayals and then maybe the two of you could try again."

"You seem so desperate to seem me hooked up with someone." Lizzy mused.

Charlotte shrugged, "I just worry about you. Don't get me wrong, I love Rose as if she were a niece but all your free time is watching Disney movies, going to parks and doing children's things. It's about time you started having a romantic interest in someone."

"Sadly, Johnny Depp is not available." Lizzy laughed.

"No he isn't…. but William Darcy is." Charlotte replied, wiggling her eyebrows.

Rolling her eyes, Lizzy said no more on the subject of getting back together with her ex-boyfriend. Now wasn't the right time, for either of them. She was still adjusting to him being in her life a lot more than just the weekends and he had just found out that two of the people he cared for the most had hurt him in one of the most unimaginable ways.

The rest of the night consisted of too many cocktails and both had eaten a meal that they were satisfied with. Charlotte had filled Elizabeth in on how she had run into Jack the previous week and how he was now single and seeking to get back with her.

"Are you going to take him back?" Elizabeth asked.

Charlotte shook her head, "Not this time. Been there, done that. I'm happy being single for a while"

The two women left the pub and waited outside as Charlotte pulled out her phone to book a taxi when…

"Elizabeth." William called from across the street.

She waved and then turned to her best friend, glaring at Charlotte.

"What did you do?" Elizabeth hissed.

Charlotte simply grinned, "I may have text William from your phone asking him to meet you here whilst you were in the toilet."

"You did what?!"

"He's going to give you a lift home. Night Lizzy." Charlotte said quickly.

"Charlotte Lucas-"

But Lizzy didn't get to scold or curse at her best friend because Charlotte walked to the end of the street and disappeared into the night. Elizabeth watched as William crossed the road and stood in front of her. In the dimly lit street, she saw that he wore a pair of worn out jeans and a dark blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up carelessly; showing off his lower arms, she had always liked his arms.

"Did you have a good night?" Will asked.

"Yeah it was nice, just what I needed was a catch up with Charlotte." Elizabeth replied.

"I'm glad you had a good time." Will smiled.

She followed William across the road and got into his car, buckling her seatbelt as he started the engine.

"Is Georgiana at Netherfield yet?" Elizabeth asked.

William shook his head as he pulled out of his parking space.

"She arrives tomorrow morning. I was thinking of coming by and making the introduction to Rose in the afternoon if you're agreeable?"

"Any time is good for me."

"What if you're sporting a hangover?"

"I won't be."

"You stayed off the Sambuca then?" William asked in a teasing tone.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. During their time together in Spain, they had spent one night at Uncle Ed's bar drinking shots of Sambuca and the next morning, she had regretted it.

"I'm more of a wine or cocktail person on a girl's night out. Sambuca is not my friend." Elizabeth stated.

"I remember that night. We had to move from the bar stools to a booth because after too many shots of Sambuca, you nearly fell on top of me."

"That wasn't the only thing that nearly happened that night." Elizabeth muttered.

When they pulled to a stop at the traffic lights, William briefly turned to look at her and caught her gaze. From what memory served, it had also been the night that they had nearly spent the night together for the first time until he had decided to pull away because he wanted their first time to be something special and not something that had transpired out of being drunk.

"I remember. I remember everything of our time together in Spain." He said quietly.

Elizabeth blushed slightly but said nothing as the light changed from red to orange to green and William continued the journey back to Longbourn. It wasn't long until they pulled up on to the driveway and got out of the car, with William walking her to the front door.

"Thank you for picking me up, you didn't have to." Elizabeth said quietly.

"I wanted to. Ever since I found out the truth about Eleanor and my father, you and Rose are the only things in my life right now that make sense." William replied.

Elizabeth smiled, going into her bag to get out her keys, hovering slightly in the doorway but not unlocking the door.

"Do you want to come inside for a cup of tea? I usually have one before I go to bed." Elizabeth suggested.

"Sure, only if your family won't mind."

"My parents are at the Lucas's for the night, they won't be home until late and Jane is staying at Netherfield."

"So only Rose and Lydia?" William asked.

Elizabeth nodded, "Lydia will be relieved that I'm back earlier than planned. She'll go and be antisocial in her room." She replied.

But as she unlocked the door and led William inside, she heard a pleasurable groan coming from the living room. Elizabeth frowned as she moved to the living room, swinging the door open to see a man with his head rested on the back of the sofa with his eyes closed and her little sister on the floor.

"LYDIA!" Elizabeth shouted.

Immediately the pair jumped up, with clothes being rearranged and her younger sister flushing a tomato red.

"Lizzy….I thought-"

"That I wouldn't be back this early?! What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Lydia rolled her eyes, "It's not as if you weren't doing these things at my age!"

"Actually I wasn't." Lizzy hissed.

The boy that Lydia had been entertaining, the only word that Lizzy could use to suitably describe the scenario, ran out of the house and the front door slammed shut behind him.

"Oh I get it; you were a goody two shoes. I bet your first time was when you hooked up with your baby daddy in Spain." Lydia snorted.

Lizzy flushed a little, this wasn't the time or place to have a discussion of how and when she had lost her own virginity. It was the fact that she had trusted her little sister to be responsible to look after her daughter and had been proven wrong in her judgement to leave Rose with her sister.

"I asked you to babysit your niece, not to invite some boy over and perform sex acts in the family living room while said niece is asleep upstairs!" Lizzy shouted.

"I'm nearly seventeen, if you think that I'm not going to get bored watching Disney films and reading bedtime stories then you're deluded!" Lydia yelled.

Lizzy scoffed, "If you think I'm not telling Mum and Dad about this then you're wrong. And that twenty quid that you wanted for babysitting is staying in my bank account."

"That's not fair! It's not as if Rose walked in on us!"

"The point is Lydia is that she could have done. If you want to get laid, do it on your own time and not when there's a child in the house! What if Rose had walked in and had seen you doing that? She could have been traumatised! Not to mention that a three-year-old shouldn't be exposed to that!" Lizzy shouted.

"Oh shut up Lizzy! You're always finding something to shout at me about." Lydia whined.

Nothing more was said as Lydia stormed out of the room and upstairs to her own bedroom. Lizzy turned to William, feeling even more embarrassed that he had seen and witnessed everything that had just happened.

"I'm really, really sorry." Lizzy muttered, feeling mortified.

William led her through to the kitchen, "It's okay. Although I have to insist that your little sister doesn't look after our daughter anymore." He said.

"Believe me, my father will get angry when I tell him."

Lizzy put the kettle on to boil whilst he sat himself on the kitchen counter.

"I have to say, if that had been Georgiana, that boy would have been leaving here in a few bruises." William said quietly.

"Lydia's always been a bit slutty. I just thought she had more sense to control her urges whilst she was responsible in looking after a child."

"Well she won't be looking after Rose any more. If you want a girl's night out and Jane isn't available or your parents are unavailable, then I'll look after her. You deserve a break now and then so don't blame yourself for Lydia's behaviour."

"Thanks." Lizzy muttered.

She turned around to face him, not realising that he had moved from the kitchen counter and stood inches away from her. He looked down at her, smiling a small smile at her.

"Is what Lydia said true? Was your first time with me?" William asked her softly.

Elizabeth nodded and blushed, "I had done other things with another boy before you…but you were the first person I…. you know…."

William nodded, his hand slowly caressing her cheek softly that she closed her eyes at the contact. Everything that she had said to Charlotte and had promised herself that a relationship with William would never happen fell out of her head. It wasn't as if she could switch off how she felt in this moment, although a part of her knew that she should try.

Luckily, before she had the chance to break the promise she had made to herself about not pursuing a relationship or start of something with William, the kettle clicked and whistled; indicating that the tea was ready to be made.

Lizzy opened her eyes and turned around, pulling out the teabags and sugar and adding them to two empty cups that stood on the side. William went into the fridge to get the milk out, handing it to her before bringing up the subject on what he was going to do with Georgiana and Rose that weekend.

"I was thinking of staying local so that Georgiana can see some of Rose's favourite places, are you planning on coming with us?" William asked.

Elizabeth handed him a cup and led him through to the dining room, having been put off of the idea of sitting in the living room.

"On Saturday we'll have to stay at Netherfield, Jane's having a dress maker come out with the dresses she's chosen for us." Elizabeth replied.

"Is Rose going to try hers on?" William asked.

Elizabeth nodded, "Yes but it will only be for a few hours if that. You and Georgiana will have plenty of time with Rose." She replied.

"Would Jane mind if we see Rose try on her dress?"

"You'd have to ask her but I don't see why she would. It's only her dress that she doesn't want anyone other than us and our parents to see."

"Are your other two sisters coming home then?"

"Kitty is coming home for the weekend and Mary's coming back for a few hours on Saturday but she's going straight back to her university afterwards because she's got to continue with her dissertation." Elizabeth explained.

"I suppose it will be nice to Rose, to have all her aunties around."

"Rose isn't really that connected to my younger sisters. She'll behave and she interacts with Lydia a lot but Mary doesn't really have time for her and Kitty is a first year student so all she cares about is her friends and social life."

"A lot like Lydia then?" William asked.

Elizabeth nodded, "Jane's the only one of my sisters who would happily spend time with Rose. Lydia only does so if I offer to pay her to babysit. I can't wait for Jane to have her own baby, she's so great with Rose."

"I think you won't be waiting too long for a niece or nephew if Charles has his way. He's already told me how much he loves Rose."

There was a slight tone of disappointment in his voice which made her reach for his hand.

"Tell me what's on your mind." She said softly.

William sighed, taking a large mouthful from his cup.

"It bothers me somewhat that Charles has been around since Rose was a baby. My best friend has seen her grow up into this amazing little girl and I've only known her for the past eight weeks. It makes me wonder if there has been anybody else in her life like Charles-"

"There hasn't."

William looked surprised at her admission and it only made her feel embarrassed that she hadn't had a single relationship since her daughter had been born. Most guys that there had been a flirtation with over the years bolted the moment that she mentioned that she had a daughter, they didn't want to date someone with 'baggage' and if they had said that to her or had given her that impression, she had always deemed them not worthy enough to be in her life because the way she saw it, Rose would never be 'baggage'.

"There…. there hasn't?" William asked.

Elizabeth shook her head, "There hasn't." she confirmed.

"Not one relationship since we parted ways?"

"No."

"Wow."

"It's just that if there had been someone that I met and felt attracted to, we'd flirt, he'd buy me a drink but the minute my phone went off because I was needed back home because Rose had been sick, they'd bolt because the way they saw it, having a child was baggage or whatever." Elizabeth explained.

"You don't need to explain yourself to me. I'm just surprised that there hasn't been anyone. You're a beautiful woman." Will replied.

"Not every man is decent enough. If I were to find someone to share my life with, they would have to be understanding and patient because Rose is a huge part of my life." Elizabeth said.

"Do you ever wonder what might have been? If my father hadn't sent you away, if I had known that you were pregnant with our child?" William asked.

Elizabeth found herself nodding, "I sometimes wonder if you would have stayed with me, if it would have been enough for you."

"You and Rose would have been enough for me." William confirmed.

"Well, it is what it is. The things that have happened are in the past now. We can just focus on being a good parenting unit for Rose."

"Is that all you want?"

Elizabeth looked at him, wondering what he meant by his question and thinking that she already knew the answer. The moments that they had shared over the past few weeks told her that he was feeling the same as her but he had just broken up with Eleanor. Quite frankly, he wasn't in a place at the moment where renewing their relationship would be a good idea.

"You've just broken up with Eleanor." Elizabeth whispered.

"I know."

"I think that you need to focus on moving on, they say that time is a healer."

William nodded and drained the rest of his tea in three large gulps before placing the cup back on the table in front of him.

"I should go, it's getting late and Georgie is coming in the morning."

The two of them rose from the table and exited the dining room, standing in the entrance hall opposite each other.

"I'll text you in the morning when we're leaving Netherfield." William said.

Elizabeth nodded, "Thank you again for picking me up."

"It was no trouble."

William leaned forward and placed a light kiss to her cheek before bidding her goodnight and slipping out of the front door quietly. Elizabeth sighed and climbed the staircase, knowing that she would have to confide in Jane in the morning about her uncertain future that William would surely be apart of.

ooOoo

William stood on the Netherfield driveway, having checked his watch for the fifth time since receiving a text message from Georgiana to say that she wasn't that far away. He was looking forward to seeing his little sister again, the last time he had seen her was when he and his father were saying goodbye to her on the 1st of September as she got into the car to return for her last year at boarding school. Every time that they were reunited, he couldn't believe how much his baby sister had grown up. Each time they set eyes on each other, Georgiana had grown up into a beautiful girl who resembled their mother.

As he set his eyes on the road, a car pulled in. When it pulled to a stop in front of him, he smiled widely and opened the passenger door and watched as his little sister climbed out of the car. As he had reflected, Georgiana wasn't that little girl he often remembered. Her blonde hair was curlier than ever, her brown eyes wide with glee at seeing him. She had gotten taller since September, she now stood at his shoulder level and didn't have to stand on her tiptoes to hug him tightly.

"Fitzwilliam, I've missed you!" Georgiana squealed happily.

The two siblings hugged tightly.

"I've missed you too Georgie, how have you been?"

Georgiana released her brother and took her suitcase from the driver before being led into the house by her brother.

"I've been fine. School keeps me busy but I told Dad that I want to come home after I leave school next summer."

"I don't see why you can't, you're sixteen in January." William muttered.

"Dad wants me to stay there for my sixth form years, I know he only wants the best for me-"

William scoffed at the last part of his sister's sentence. If there was one thing he had learned from his father's betrayal it was that Reginald Darcy didn't want what was best for his children.

"Will, Dad told me what happened. He told me why you aren't speaking to each other." Georgiana said quietly.

"What did he tell you?" William asked.

"Not too much but he said that the two of you had a disagreement." Georgiana replied.

"A 'disagreement' is hardly what I'd call it Georgie. He lied to me, he's been lying to me since Elizabeth left. Our father knew about Rose and kept it from me and on top of it, Eleanor knew as well!" William snapped.

Georgiana blinked, "He wouldn't...would he?" she asked.

William nodded, "I'm sorry Georgie, but you need to know what he's really like."

"I didn't realise how bad the situation was," Georgiana said quietly, "But he's still our father, Will. He's the only parent that we have left."

"Well he should have thought about that before he lied to me."

Sighing heavily, William handed Georgiana's luggage to one of Charles's staff members to take up to the room she would be staying in whilst he gestured for her to head back out of the house. His sister followed him, looking a little upset as to what she had just been told by William.

"Are we heading off to meet my niece now?" Georgiana asked.

William nodded, unlocking his car, "Yes, you'll absolutely love her." he replied with a smile.

Georgiana returned his smile, "I'm sure I will. But don't think you can distract me. We will be talking more about the situation between you and Dad." she stated.

"Georgie-"

"No buts Fitzwilliam. I deserve to know what's going on."

With that, no more was said on the subject between brother and sister as they both climbed into William's car. On the way to Longbourn, Georgiana asked her brother to fill her in on what Rose was like and hearing her brother light up and talk about his little girl told her that no matter what was going on between him and their father, at least Fitzwilliam had something in his life right now that made him happy.

ooOoo

The morning in the Bennet household could only be described in three words by Elizabeth: World War Three. First, Jane had announced in the dining room at breakfast that morning that she would be moving in Netherfield at the end of November, ahead of her December wedding which had caused a bit of fuss with Mrs Bennet. The matriarch had always found it difficult when the house wasn't full up with all of her children and so the news that her eldest would soon be leaving the family home was distressing for her. Second, Elizabeth had filled her parents in on Lydia's behaviour the night before, of course she had sent Rose out of the room with Jane at that point, and it had divided the household as to what was acceptable and unacceptable.

Mr Bennet had been furious that Lydia would do that type of thing under his roof, especially when a child was asleep upstairs that Lydia was in charge of caring for. Elizabeth naturally had sided with her father over her little sister's actions but Mrs Bennet agreed with Lydia's reasoning; that Lydia was practically an adult and it was perfectly natural for a young woman to explore a sexual relationship. After constant arguing for the past two hours, Lydia had been grounded with no mobile phone or internet privileges and both Mrs Bennet and Lydia were giving Lizzy the evil eye and still shouting at her when there was a knock at the front door.

She opened the door and allowed Will and his sister into the entrance hall, grimacing at the shouting between Lydia and Mr Bennet.

"Georgiana, you remember Elizabeth?" William asked.

Elizabeth smiled at the girl, noting that Will's sister had changed a lot over the past four years since they had last met but her friendly smile and expression remained the same.

"Of course, it's nice to see you again." Georgiana greeted.

"You as well."

Despite the shouting, they heard the footsteps running down the stairs and seconds later, Rose was standing next to Elizabeth, grinning up at her father.

"Mornin' Fizz." Rose greeted.

Elizabeth observed the confused look that Georgiana gave to her brother before looking back down at her little girl.

"Morning Rose, this is your Auntie, Georgiana." William introduced.

Georgiana knelt down so that she was at Rose's height level and once again, Rose cocked her head to one side to study her new Auntie before looking back up at her mother.

"Mummy, she doesn't have Fizz's nose." Rose stated.

"Rose, that's rude!" Elizabeth scolded.

"Sorry." Rose mumbled.

"That's okay, why do you call your Daddy 'Fizz'?" Georgiana asked with a reassuring smile.

Rose smiled and looked up at Georgiana, "'Cause his name is Fizz-William, it's funny!"

Even Georgiana giggled alongside the three and a half year old which made Elizabeth smile at how quickly Rose seemed to be accepting her father's sister. Of course, the only member of the Darcy's that she would allow Rose to meet was William's little sister.

"Where we going?" Rose asked, looking up at William.

"I thought we could show your Auntie Georgie around Meryton, you could show her the places you showed me?" William suggested.

"Yeah!" Rose exclaimed in excitement, rushing to get her coat and shoes on.

"Have fun, what are your plans for lunch?" Elizabeth asked.

Her question seemed to make William frown, she knew why. He had been expecting her to join them but it was time to let him start having more alone time with Rose so that their relationship could develop even more than it had done.

"You aren't coming?" William questioned.

Elizabeth shook her head, "I'm sorry, I would but I have lesson plans to finish for next week and because I have to give up some of my afternoon to try on bridesmaid dresses tomorrow, I need the time today to get it done." she answered.

"Oh...okay..."

Rose came back out two minutes later, her coat already on and carrying her Wellington boots. Elizabeth sat on the floor, helping Rose to pull on the boots before giving her daughter a hug goodbye. As she rose, her eyes met Will's and she noted how confused he looked. She gave him an assuring smile and waved the three of them off, watching as they walked across the driveway and round the corner down the country lane. She definitely needed to talk to Jane about what she was going to do.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: So here's the next instalment and I hope that some of you will like it. But there are still several things going on in the story which kick off from this chapter so I hope you'll follow this story into the multiple chapters it will have, so far I have a count of thirty but that's not a definite number.

This story will be updated every other week so that I can focus on my university assignments and so that I can get NWTS finished. So I'll be alternating the updates with NWTS and hopefully, once NWTS is finished, I can update Autumn Changes on a weekly basis.

I hope you lovely readers had a great New Year.

* * *

Everything was now planned down to the last detail. The caterer had been booked, the music chosen alongside the transport, flowers, decorations for Netherfield for the reception as well as the bridesmaid dresses and suits. Now all that remained was the wedding day itself. By mid-November, Lizzy was beginning to see Longbourn in a different light. Jane's bedroom had been packed up and as of tomorrow, her elder sister wouldn't be living at their childhood home any more. As of the weekend, all who would remain were her parents, Lydia, herself and Rose and it got her thinking that maybe it was time to start looking at getting her own place to live with her daughter.

So on Friday lunch time, with the noise of children playing in the playground outside, Elizabeth sat in the staff room on her laptop; looking up properties for sale or rent in the surrounding area. She wasn't that fussy about where she wanted to live, as long as the property had at least two bedrooms and a spacious garden for Rose to play in then she would be happy. There was also the upside that if she got her own place to live then she wouldn't have to put up with Lydia's evil stares and sulking, considering her little sister was still grounded for her indecent behaviour.

"What are you looking at?" Matthew asked, sitting on the sofa next to her.

Lizzy smiled at her friend, "Places to rent or buy." she replied.

"Looking at moving out of the family home?"

She nodded, "I'm thinking about it. I've got enough saved up for a deposit on a house if I can get a mortgage from the bank."

"Get a mortgage, it's better than renting." Matthew stated.

"That's very true but the upside to renting is that if anything should go wrong with the plumbing, heating or anything to do with the house then it's the landlord's responsibility to sort it out." Elizabeth said.

"I suppose there's that. Why don't you talk it over with your parents?"

"I can't because my mother is already having a breakdown because Jane is moving in with Charles ahead of the wedding. If I told her that I was looking at leaving too she might have go nuclear on me."

Matthew laughed, "Your mother has always given that impression." He agreed.

Elizabeth laughed as well, shutting her laptop down and placing it back in it's bag before putting the bag in her locker and sitting back down next to Matthew.

"So, how are things going with the baby daddy?" Matthew asked.

Elizabeth lowered her eyes, knowing that Charlotte had probably told her brother about William picking her up from their meal out a few weeks ago.

"We're simply maintaining a friendship." Elizabeth replied.

Matthew snorted, "Lizzy, there's more to it than that isn't there? Charlotte told me that you still have feelings for this William Darcy."

Elizabeth sighed, "Does Charlotte keep anything to herself?"

"She worries about you; can you blame her? She only spoke of this to me so you don't need to worry about anyone else finding out."

"Well it's true that I still have feelings for Will but did your sister also share that I'm not going to pursue him?"

Matthew nodded, "I think you'd be a fool not to. Before I interrupted you all those weeks ago, it looked like you two were sharing a very intimate moment. It was so obvious that you were going to share a kiss with him."

"Again that's true but I felt guilty after you interrupted us, he still had a girlfriend at that point. Besides, I already promised myself that I'm not going to pursue Will because if we did get back together and it ended again, it's not only me that would get hurt. Rose would as well."

Matthew raised an eyebrow, "Whilst I agree that you can't know what the future holds Lizzy, have you ever thought that it would be good for Rose to have her parents in a loving relationship because it's clear to a blind man that you both still love each other?" he asked.

Elizabeth didn't know how to reply to Matthew's observation. It was pretty much what Charlotte had been saying to her over the past two weeks and after speaking with Jane on the subject, her sister had told her to follow her heart and if it led her back to William then she shouldn't be fighting it; that she should talk through her doubts with her ex-boyfriend in order to find out whether they wanted the same thing.

Before she could talk any more on the subject with Matthew, more of her colleagues entered the staff room and began to chatter amongst themselves. Going into her bag, she pulled out her mobile to see that William had sent her a picture message of him and Rose; both wearing bright smiles on their faces.

It was something that she had meant to talk to him about, letting him have unsupervised time with their daughter but she had just allowed him to have that time with her without having the talk. Ever since the first weekend that he had spent getting to know Rose, he had kept his promise not to let her down; he saw her every weekend and now that he was living at Netherfield, she had put him on the list of persons allowed to collect Rose from pre-school. It was also something that Rose looked forward to, spending a few afternoons in the week after being picked up by her father.

Smiling to herself, she started typing back a message.

Lovely picture, she looks like she's enjoying herself with you. Are you busy after I finish work?

As she hit the send button, Elizabeth felt herself getting nervous. She knew that she could keep avoiding the subject of her feelings for William and keep avoiding talking about the moments that they shared whenever they were alone but it wouldn't do any of them any good to keep doing so. Charlotte, Jane and Matthew had a point, she needed to at least talk to William and if he was in the same place as her, she needed to decide whether to take a risk or not.

She's certainly keeping Dash entertained and told Caroline to go away twice! Not that I blame her. No, not busy, do you need a chat?

Elizabeth laughed, she certainly didn't have a problem with her little girl telling Caroline to go away, especially as Charles's sister had always made snide comments about Rose not having a father figure around.

There is something I need to discuss with you just the two of us. Shall we grab a coffee somewhere?

Sure, shall I drop Rose back to Longbourn and meet you at school?

Would be better, as long as you don't mind me not changing out of my 'teacher wear' as Lydia calls it.

You'd look fine in a bin liner. I'll see you about half three?

See you then.

Elizabeth smiled again and put her phone back into her bag as the bell rung to indicate the end of lunch break.

ooOoo

William watched as Rose ran around the Netherfield grounds, throwing a soggy tennis ball as Dash chased after it. After having picked her up an hour ago, she had been happily running around outside and gathering mud on her bright red wellies and jeans. He had grown to love his daughter in the short amount of time that he had known her, how could he not? Rose was one of the good things he had in his life presently, along with Elizabeth. But it was times like this, as he watched his three-and-a-half-year-old play without a care in the world that he felt envious of her. Rose had nothing in the world to worry about, what he would give to sometimes not have to worry about things.

He had explained the entire story of what had gone on between himself and his father to Georgiana when she had come to visit during half-term and his little sister hadn't taken it very well. Georgiana had always been a Daddy's little girl and always liked to see the best in people, including their father and so when he had shown her the evidence of his father's deception, Georgiana had bid her goodbyes and requested the car to take her straight back to boarding school; stating that she needed some time away with no contact so that she could get her head around what had gone on. William felt horrible that he had shattered the glass on the portrait that Georgiana had painted in her mind of what their father was but she needed to know the truth; he wouldn't allow his father to use Georgiana to get him back to Pemberley.

Now his sister wasn't replying to any emails, text messages or phone calls that he had resorted to calling to school once term had re-started to see if she was okay, and despite reassurances from the head teacher that Georgiana was her usual self, he couldn't help but wonder if she was bottling everything up.

And then there was Elizabeth. The beautiful woman who he had been so angry at and had blamed her because of his father's lies in order to keep him from having a life with her. Things between them were better, now that they both knew the truth in what had truly happened, but he didn't know how things would go between them. He still loved her, he knew that and he knew that he couldn't go on as a parenting unit for Rose without talking to Elizabeth to see whether there was still something there that they could have. William often found himself thinking over to the moments that they had been sharing recently, the moment where he had wanted to kiss her in the classroom, when he was still with Eleanor, but they had been interrupted by her colleague. Then there was the night out where he had picked her up from a night out with Charlotte and after in the kitchen at Longbourn where she had said that they could be a good parenting unit for Rose, and he had asked her if that was what she really wanted and she had stated about his breakup with Eleanor.

When he thought back to his relationship with Eleanor, he knew that he had loved her a little but his relationship with Eleanor had been familiar. They had history, having been on and off in a relationship since he had started his bachelor degree at Cambridge and mainly he had been with her because he knew his father had approved of her and had actually liked her. Now he realised that he had been with Eleanor for the wrong reasons and his intention had been to end the relationship with her without leading her on to thinking that they had a future when he had been unsure of what he wanted when Elizabeth had come back into his life.

But then he had found out that Eleanor had been involved in his father's schemes and he felt angry. How could someone who claimed to love him as much as Eleanor said she did, hide something as huge as his father's betrayal from him?

It had been weeks since his breakup, he refused to answer Eleanor's attempts at contact because as far as he was concerned, they were finished. For good this time. He was starting to make a life for himself in Hertfordshire, living temporarily at Netherfield until after Charles's wedding to Jane when he would look at getting his own house and he had invested in some of the businesses that were looking to close down in Meryton, although he hadn't shared that with anyone yet. During his time spent in the local area, he had gotten to know some of the business owners. The current economic climate was making their businesses suffer, and because he had more money than he knew what to do with (money that his father couldn't touch because it had been his inheritance upon his twenty-first birthday) he had invested some of the money into a restaurant and a retail business in return for a twenty-five percent share of the business. Now the businesses were doing a little better.

As he sat down on one of the various wooden benches that could be found throughout the grounds, he heard squelching footsteps behind him. William turned and saw that Charles had decided to join him, both of them watching as Rose continued to play fetch with Dash.

"It's amazing how much energy a toddler has." Charles mused.

William chuckled slightly, "She certainly keeps herself entertained." He agreed.

"Have you spoken to Elizabeth yet?"

"No but we're meeting up for a coffee when she finishes work because she said that there's something that she wants to talk to me about."

"You need to tell her how you feel, Will."

William looked at his best friend and nodded, "I know. I will." He replied.

"If you want something else to focus on, you need to plan my stag do."

"Well you've strictly said no to strippers, clubs, bars." William stated.

"I just want something quiet with the lads, a pub, a casino, a football match. Something like that." Charles replied.

William nodded, "I'll bear that in mind. I've still got a while to organise it, depending on when you want it to happen."

"Second week of December maybe? Definitely not Christmas week or the night before the wedding, I don't want to be hungover for any of those occasion."

"No, I'd imagine that being hungover for your own wedding would make you enjoy it less." William said.

Charles laughed, "What time are you meeting Elizabeth?" he asked.

"Half past three." William replied.

"Not too long to wait." Charles smiled.

William watched as his best friend rose from the bench and left him sat there to think over what he was going to say to Elizabeth in a few hours, wondering whether she would want to hear what he had to say.

ooOoo

At half past three that afternoon, Elizabeth left her classroom and signed out at the reception before leaving the school building. Her afternoon had gone rather smoothly, having had a PE lesson with her class in the afternoon before having the last hour of the school day of free time where the pupils got to choose an activity to do. And when the bell had rung to indicate the end of the school day, she breathed a sigh of nerves. Despite the fact that she wasn't in work until Monday morning, she now had to meet with William to talk to him about what was between them and where they stood with one another.

Her car was parked on the street outside the school as she made her way down the slope to see William waiting for her outside the gates. She smiled in greeting and he returned her smile, both standing there awkwardly until she cleared her throat.

"How was Rose?" Elizabeth asked.

"She was good, she always behaves. We spent the afternoon at Netherfield in the grounds. Your mother didn't look very impressed when I dropped her back to Longbourn just now, her jeans and wellies were covered in mud." William laughed.

Elizabeth laughed as well, "My mother used to scold me when I was a little older than Rose, the amount of times she'd put me in a frilly dress and I would play in the garden, only to come into the house with mud all over me."

"I can imagine you doing that."

"Shall we head to a café in Meryton?" she asked.

William nodded and the two began to walk from the school and into the little town, both telling the other how they had spent their day, with William saying that Charles had asked him to plan his stag do.

When they arrived at the café, Elizabeth bought them both a coffee as William found them a table in a quiet corner so that they could talk. After paying, Lizzy took the tray from the counter and walked to the table, breathing in deeply as she sat down opposite her ex-boyfriend.

"You said there was something that you needed to talk to me about?" William asked, taking his mug from the tray.

Elizabeth took a large mouthful of her own coffee and nodded.

"I wanted to talk about where we stand with each other." Elizabeth said quietly.

William took hold of her right hand and gave it a light squeeze.

"We've been having these…intimate moments lately, we both know that. I suppose it's confusing; after the amount of time we've been apart and with everything that's happened." William muttered.

"Just a tad confusing." Elizabeth agreed.

"I can't go on another day with the confusion, I still have feelings for you, I don't think I ever truly stopped." William admitted.

It was one thing to suspect that he was feeling the same as her, but it was another to hear him admit it out loud. Elizabeth gave him a small smile.

"Even when we first encountered each other again? You were so angry with me and I with you. The amount of time we spend together has opened up what I feel for you, what I felt for you all that time ago."

"Then let's be together. I told you that this is all that matters to me. That you and Rose would have always been enough for me." William whispered, leaning across the table.

Elizabeth sighed, was it a good idea? It wasn't just herself that she had to think about, there was Rose as well. Two halves of her were battling the other, one half stating that she had already been there and been hurt by a separation from William, that this time she had Rose to think about if they were to separate again and the other half stating what Matthew had pointed out to her earlier; that it might not end and it might be the best thing for Rose to have her parents back together if they still loved each other.

"There's just so much that could go wrong-"

"Like what? Do you have the same feelings for me like I do for you?" William asked.

She met his gaze, "Yes." Elizabeth whispered.

"Then what are you so afraid of?" William questioned, patiently.

Sighing, she took another large mouthful of her coffee with her left hand.

"I was so heartbroken when we were separated the last time, I know it's not your fault and nor is it mine. Do you really think that just because your father hasn't contacted you that he isn't keeping tabs on you somehow? Do you really think he wouldn't learn that we were back together? What if he tried to separate us again? I don't think I could bear it a second time."

"My father wouldn't dare. Not after everything he's already done." William promised.

"But you can't be sure of that. Besides, he's not the only thing that I have concerns about." Elizabeth said.

"What else is there?"

"Rose."

William blinked, "What about Rose? She'd have us back together; we could be the family that we didn't have the chance to be when she was born." He said.

"You're right, we could be that. But what if we broke up a second time? It's not only myself that I have to think about. There's Rose as well. If we were separated a second time, it wouldn't just be me who would get hurt. Rose would as well, despite how hard we tried to prevent it from happening. She would have to adjust to us being apart-"

"I wouldn't let you go, not a second time!" William interrupted.

"But-"

William sighed impatiently, "Lizzy, I've told you what I want and it's clear to me how I feel. If you want to keep hesitating about what to do when it comes to me, that's fine. But when you've made your decision, you know where to find me." He muttered, letting go of her hand and leaving the table.

As she watched him walk away, she cursed herself silently. Was it unreasonable of her to have doubts when he had been straight with her? William had told her what he wanted and that he had feelings for her and she had expressed her worries instead of agreeing to be with him.

In the seconds that he walked out of the café, she drained the rest of her coffee in a large gulp, grabbed her bag, rushed out of the café and ran after William, her mind made up.

"Will," she called, "Will, wait!"

He stopped halfway down the high street, turning around to look at her running up to him; a look of surprise on his face.

"Lizzy-"

"I don't know whether it's a good idea. There are so many things telling me that I shouldn't and other things that tell me I should and it's confusing. But I don't want to debate over what might have been now we both know the truth. Why should we debate and wonder over the might have been when we could just see?"

William smiled, a hand cupping her face.

"So, you'll be my girlfriend again. Is that what you're saying?" he asked.

"Yes…no…what I'm saying is that this needs to go slowly, that we have to take each day as it comes. No rushing." Elizabeth replied.

"Is that what you want?"

Elizabeth exhaled lightly, "I do." She confirmed.

Nothing else was said as Will bent his head down and closed his eyes, pressing his lips lightly to her own and kissed her. It was just as she remembered from all those years ago, his soft lips moving against hers as she closed her eyes, his hands enveloping around her to pull her tightly to him as her own wound round his neck. As they continued to kiss the other, her worries over pursuing a relationship with William and Rose had faded.

ooOoo

Mrs Alice Reynolds, at nearly sixty years of age, had always considered the Darcy family as her own extended family, to her they were more than the family that she had been employed with for the last forty years of her life. She had begun working as a housekeeper to Robert Darcy, who had been Reginald's father and when Robert had died, Reginald had taken over the estate as head of the family. She had witnessed Reginald marry Anne Fitzwilliam and in turn had been there to help look after Fitzwilliam and Georgiana. But there was something that she had had to keep from the Reginald's children, something that only a select few knew about.

It was late afternoon on Friday that she went into his study, the smell of whiskey hitting her as soon as she shut the door behind her. Her eyes went to the three empty, glass bottles on the floor and desk, to the untouched whiskey sat in Reginald's favourite glass. Alice had lost count of the amount of times she had found her boss in this state recently.

Reginald's fallout with Fitzwilliam had driven the older Darcy back to drinking heavily. Of course, her boss had been drinking in moderation for years, the last time he had fallen off the wagon had been when his wife had died. But having lost his son, and now possibly his daughter, Reginald probably felt that he had nothing left to lose.

Alice walked over to the desk, lightly shaking Reginald to wake from his alcohol induced sleep. It took a few attempts, the shaking getting slightly harder each time until he eventually lifted his head from the desk and winced as his eyes became used to the surroundings of the study.

"What time is it?" Reginald grumbled.

"Almost dinner time." Alice replied

"I'm not hungry." Reginald grunted.

Alice rolled her eyes and began to pick up the bottles that were on the floor, the last thing she wanted was for the staff to end up tripping or cutting themselves if the bottles became broken.

"Reginald, this has to stop." Alice said firmly, placing the bottles on the desk.

"Why? I've lost Fitzwilliam. Georgiana won't return my calls. What else is there to do?"

Alice sighed, "When was the last time you consumed whiskey today?"

Reginald hesitated for a few minutes.

"I fell asleep at eight o'clock this morning. Luckily, I've slept it off and because I've been drinking for years, I rarely get a hangover." Reginald boasted.

"Reginald, this isn't the way to make amends to your children. How do you think they would feel if they knew your previous battles?" Alice asked.

Reginald punched the desk.

"Alice, you might be considered family and you've always been helpful but keep your nose out of my business. The troubles I have are of no-one's concern, not yours and certainly not my children's." Reginald growled.

"Drinking three bottles of whiskey or more each day is not the way to cope with your mistakes. Reginald, you need to open your eyes. Fitzwilliam is twenty-five and perfectly capable of making his own decisions and Georgiana is nearly an adult, you can't control her life either. But if you apologised then you might actually still have a chance at saving your relationship with them-"

He punched the desk again.

"Alice, keep out of my business. When Anne had to go this was my way of coping. It always has been."

"And do you want liver failure to be the cause of your death? Like it was your fathers?"

"Just keep to cleanliness and management of Pemberley, Alice. It was the reason you were hired, after all." Reginald sneered.

Without another word, Alice left the study; taking the empty bottles of whiskey with her. She knew that it was only a matter of time before Reginald was creating his own grave, and it was only a matter of time before she would go to Fitzwiliam and tell him of his father's battle with alcohol.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N:** As always, thanks for the reviews on the last chapter. This latest post is coming a few days early due to a university assignment due on Friday. The next chapter will be posted between 1st-3rd February.

* * *

The street was filled with market stalls selling knock off clothes, shoes and bags, others selling fish, fruit, vegetables and handmade jewellery. The traders called out to her in their London accents, trying to coax her into looking at their products or to sell her something. Eleanor simply looked at the stalls in disgust, as if she would ever buy from a market trader.

At the end of street, she reached a pub called the Coach and Horses, it definitely fitted the description her PI had given her in the weeks she had spent trying to track down the man that she needed to proceed with the plan she had formed with Caroline.

She hadn't heard from Caroline since their meal in Watford, when her friend had handed over a contact number for her to get someone involved in their plan. Eleanor looked at the run down exterior of the pub and shivered in disgust.

 _He likes to hang out here?! God Carrie, what the hell has he gotten himself into?!_

Sighing heavily, she pushed the door of the pub open and looked around. The furniture was in dire need of being replaced, the fabric on the booths were so worn that there were tears and the colour that had once been rich red were now faded. Eleanor went up to the empty bar, coughing to get the barman's attention.

"What's yer poison luv?" the barman asked.

"Oh I don't want a drink. I'm looking for a man who is said to frequent your…." Eleanor paused, looking around before meeting the barman's cold stare, "'establishment' quite often. He goes by the name of George Wickham."

The barman grunted, "Who says he drinks ere?"

"My private investigator says he does." Eleanor hissed.

Another grunt and the barman pointed to the far corner to the left. Eleanor smiled at the barman, walking over to the man who stood with his back to her, throwing darts at the worn down dartboard that was pinned to the far wall.

"George Wickham?" Eleanor asked.

The dart missed the red centre target and landed just to the right of it. The man swore and turned around, downing the rest of his beer before raising an eyebrow at her.

"Now we don't see pretty little things like you in a pub like this." Wickham complimented.

Eleanor smiled, gesturing to an empty table where the pair sat down.

"My name is Eleanor Clarence; I have a proposition to put to you." She said.

Wickham laughed a little, "And how exactly did you come to find me? But then again, perhaps the answer is obvious."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Love, the way you dress doesn't exactly scream that you often go for a drink in a rundown grandad pub. No, if I didn't know better I'd say that you're from a very rich background and put that to good use."

"Not unlike yourself."

Wickham's smirk faded, "I used to be. I've had to get by using other means."

"Yes. Gambling in 'rundown grandad pubs' is the very definition of getting by using other means."

"What do you want, sweet cheeks?" Wickham sneered.

She leaned across the table so that they were a little closer, "What if I employed you to do a job for me? If you deliver your side of the deal, I'll make it worth your while." Eleanor whispered.

Wickham's smirk reappeared as he ran a finger through a blonde lock of her hair, "I assume that you haven't had much time for pleasure lately?" he asked quietly.

Eleanor slapped his hand away from her.

"My PI has given me every piece of information about you, Wickham. It's because of your connection to a certain person I need back in my life that I'm even considering asking for your help."

"And who is this person you so desperately need back in your life?" Wickham asked with curiosity.

Eleanor took a breath.

"Fitzwilliam Darcy."

To her surprise, Wickham burst into laughter; causing the rest of the drinkers to look nosily in their direction. Eleanor gave the other drinkers a cold glare before turning back to Wickham, tapping her foot impatiently against the table leg.

"Arsy Darcy?! I haven't seen that man since we graduated from boarding school!" Wickham laughed.

"Keep your mouth shut Wickham!" Eleanor growled defensively.

Wickham stopped laughing, eyeing her up with curiosity. It was as if he was trying to evaluate what the situation was and she was determined not to let him know all of the facts. After all, Caroline had warned her that George Wickham was a bit of a slippery snake.

"Fitzwilliam and I were in a loving and committed relationship until recently. A woman got in the way and I need you to distract this woman so that I can get back on track with Fitzwilliam." Eleanor stated.

Wickham raised an eyebrow, "Now it's not like Darcy to cheat on a woman. She must be something special." He said.

Eleanor glared at him, "She's nothing but a whore who has her claws into my boyfriend."

"And you want me to rise to the challenge and take her away? How am I supposed to do that?" he asked.

"I've been assured of your 'talents' and I do my work thoroughly. A certain brother of yours is dating a girl who happens to be the sister of this whore." Eleanor replied.

"Hmmm. You certainly have done your homework. One could accuse you of being obsessed with Darcy. How about I offer you a proposition? A few rounds under the sheets with me and you'll forget all about Arsy Darcy."

Eleanor slapped him across the cheek, "Occupy those thoughts on seducing Elizabeth Bennet. You ensure that Elizabeth Bennet is occupied with you so that I can get back with Fitzwilliam. I hope you like a challenge." She said.

Wickham grinned, "A man likes a challenge, I don't like an easy target."

"I can assure you that Elizabeth Bennet is not an easy target. She truly has her claws well and deep into my boyfriend."

"And once I distract this Bennet girl with my 'talents', as you so kindly put it, what do I get in return once you are successfully reunited with Darcy?" Wickham asked, scraping some dirt out from under his fingernails.

He was clearly getting bored of the conversation, Caroline hadn't warned her about that. Eleanor picked up the black briefcase that she had brought with her and placed it on the table. Wickham eyed the briefcase with interest that she couldn't help but smile wickedly. _A magpie would always be attracted to shiny objects_ , she thought to herself.

"One hundred thousand pounds in cash. If you agree to this deal, you can have ten grand now and the rest once you have successfully seduced and distracted Elizabeth Bennet away from my boyfriend and once I am back in Fitzwilliam's arms."

Wickham leaned forward and delicately ran a finger over the lock of the briefcase before meeting Eleanor's gaze.

"Seduce Elizabeth Bennet?" he asked.

Eleanor nodded, "That's part one of the plan." She replied.

"Part one?"

Smiling wickedly, "Let's go somewhere decent for a drink and I shall discuss my plan with you in more depth, that is assuming that you're accepting my terms for the cash?" Eleanor suggested.

Wickham returned her wicked smile and pulled his jacket on before leading Eleanor out of the pub. As the fresh, November air hit them, Eleanor breathed deeply; feeling glad to have escaped the stuffy air of the rundown pub. Now that Wickham had agreed to hear her out and help her with part one of her plan, it was only a matter of time before Elizabeth Bennet would live to regret stealing her boyfriend from her.

ooOoo

Saturday morning was a mixture of emotions at Longbourn. Mrs Bennet was crying uncontrollably in the living room when Charles and Will showed up that morning to help load Jane's boxes into the moving van. Jane was in a different place, having been excited at the thought of starting a new life with Charles but sad because she was leaving her childhood home behind.

Elizabeth had dressed in a pair of old jeans, a baggy top and grey hoody that she usually reserved for lounging about the house when having a lazy day indoors with Rose when she walked into Jane's bedroom at the same time as William, both alone. She smiled at him, remembering their talk and time together the previous night.

Will briefly returned her smile before closing the gap between them and pressed his lips to hers. His hands cupped her face as her lips parted and his tongue slid in between them; kissing her more enthusiastically as her own arms wound around his neck and she stepped closer to him. She felt her back press into the doorway as William moved her backwards, continuing to kiss her at the same, enthusiastic pace to which he had started. Elizabeth thrilled in the sensation, her hands running through his curly hair that felt so soft.

They were interrupted when they heard the sound of someone coming up the staircase, they instantly broke apart and both shared the same look of disappointment. Lizzy looked at him, smiling at the feeling she could feel inside her chest of her heart hammering away in happiness.

"Later." William whispered.

She nodded back, entering the room and passing him a box and with one last glance, he disappeared back down the stairs. As Elizabeth bent down to pick up another box, there was a light cough in the doorway.

"I know what you were doing." Jane accused with a smirk.

Elizabeth stood back up, box in her arms and raised an eyebrow; trying to feign innocence.

"What are you talking about?"

Jane snorted, "Please. You two have been up here alone long enough to act on the lovey dovey glances that you've been sharing all morning." Her sister stated.

Lizzy felt herself going pink in the cheeks.

"We're taking things slowly." Lizzy muttered.

Jane grinned and squealed quietly, coming to where Lizzy was stood with the box.

"I knew it. I knew that you two would get back together." Jane whispered.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, "Today isn't about me or William, it's about you and Charles moving in together. So get your butt in gear and pick up a box, the sooner we get these packed up, the sooner Mum will accept that it's happened." She laughed.

"Fine. But I want the gossip later." Jane instructed.

The two sisters left the room seconds later, carrying boxes down the stairs. Sadly, she didn't' get another chance to be alone with William whilst they were packing up the van at Longbourn. But the look in his eyes told her that the moment they were alone, he would be looking forward to it.

When the last box was packed up, Jane took one last look at the house and hugged both their parents goodbye and got into the van with Charles as Elizabeth and Will got into her car to drive over to Netherfield to help unload the van.

"When I said 'later' I didn't think my next chance to be alone with you would be in your car." William said as they followed the van out of the driveway.

Elizabeth smiled, "What were you thinking?" she asked.

"That I could persuade you for a walk around the grounds or heading off to my room to talk and other things."

"Other things?"

"A lot of kissing you senseless. I know we agreed to go slowly." William replied.

Elizabeth smiled at the thought, "Some quality time together?"

William nodded, "Perhaps I could take you to dinner one night during the week if you're not too busy?" he asked.

"I have a staff meeting on Tuesday, it finishes around five o'clock." Elizabeth replied.

"Shall I pick you up?"

"I'll head home first, have a shower and get changed. I'll put Rose to bed as well so if you want to come by about half seven, is that okay?"

"Sounds good to me." William agreed.

Elizabeth smiled as they pulled into the Netherfield drive, rolling her eyes that Caroline stood waiting for them; dressed in one of her bright fuchsia dresses and matching high heels, definitely something you wouldn't wear if you were helping your brother's fiancé move in.

"She looks ridiculous!" William uttered.

Lizzy giggled and hit him playfully on the thigh.

"Be nice." She tutted, but a smile formed on her face.

"You don't have to sleep under the same roof as her. She's been sniffing around me like a dog at the dinner table since I broke up with Eleanor."

The smile on her face faded as she unbuckled her seatbelt. Something which William immediately noticed and leaned across his seat to place a light kiss to her lips.

"It's all in the past, Lizzy. You are the one that I want." William assured her.

She nodded her head and gave him another small smile before they both got out of the car, meeting the cold stare from Caroline Bingley before taking a box from the back of the van and taking it into the house.

ooOoo

Caroline stood in complete shock. Darcy had been a single man for weeks now and in those weeks she had tried absolutely everything that she could think of to try and get him to ask her out. She had tried making a nice dinner when it was just the two of them in the house but he mostly kept to his room. She had tried taking him one of his favourite reads from the library in an attempt to 'cheer him up' and had spent a bloody fortune on new dresses to try and impress him and so far nothing had worked.

But now she felt angry. It was clear to her why her attempts at trying to make her claim on Darcy were failing. Having witnessed her brother's best friend lean across his seat in Eliza's car to give the tramp a kiss. He had kissed her! The mother of his child!

She hadn't thought about a possible reunion between the two ex-lovers. Mostly she had been trying to keep Eleanor away from Netherfield by telling her about Charles and Darcy's old friend from boarding school; a man who had loose morals and could easily come to Meryton to occupy Eliza's thoughts and feelings. Of course, she had told Eleanor that Eliza stood in the way of her 'friend' getting her ex-boyfriend back because she needed Eleanor to do some of the dirty work.

"Carrie, grab a box would you?" Charles called merrily.

Because of her rage, she had completely zoned out of why she was stood on the driveway, in the middle of freezing November without a coat on.

"Of course, Charles. But may I ask as to why you haven't just asked the staff to take the boxes into the house? That's why they were hired after all." Caroline stated.

Her brother rolled his eyes as he handed her a cardboard box.

"They're busy managing the house, _that_ is what my staff were hired to do. I need to speak with you about another matter whilst we're out here alone." Charles replied.

"Like what? Make it quick Charles, it's freezing cold." Caroline complained.

Her brother looked apologetic, why was he looking at her like that?

"Carrie, you need to find a place of your own to live. You can't keep living at Netherfield."

Her own brother was kicking her out of the family home?!

"Why?!" Caroline demanded.

"Look Carrie, I'm sorry. But Jane and I are getting married in just over a month and we're going to be starting a family quite soon after that. We need our own space and you're nearly twenty-two, you can't live here forever. You need to gain some independence as an adult."

"So that's it? I happily agree to help you move your fiancé into my childhood home and now I'm being told that I'm getting kicked out of it?! I don't even get my full inheritance until I turn twenty-five! How the hell am I supposed to find somewhere else to live in less than a month with the limited amount of money that I have?!" Caroline yelled.

"Caroline you know that Netherfield is legally mine. Our father stated me to inherit the house and grounds in the will because he always wanted his son to succeed him as the owner-"

"Don't bring our parents into this Charles!"

"I didn't exactly get to pick and choose Carrie. The estate is mine, end of. I'll look into finding a nice house for you to live in locally or you can go and ask Louisa if you can move in with her and John but I doubt that's likely considering that our sister is pregnant."

Caroline scoffed and dropped the box to the ground, not caring about the contents within it.

"Some brother you're turning out to be!" Caroline hissed and stormed back into the house.

ooOoo

The move had gone smoothly, with the boxes currently waiting to be unpacked by Charles and Jane over the rest of the weekend. The soon to be married couple were enjoying a sit down in the living room whilst Caroline had retired to her room to sulk over the fact that her home wouldn't be her home for much longer. Meanwhile, Lizzy and Will were sat in the living room, both knackered out from shifting the boxes that Caroline had refused to help move from the van.

"It's been an eventful day." William said.

"That it has. Caroline's been giving me the evil eye since we started moving Jane in." Elizabeth replied.

"Ignore her. Like I said, you're the one that I want and she'll have to deal with it." He stated.

Her face lit up with a smile which caused him to smile back at her. William had always loved her smile; it was one of the first things he had noticed about her during their time together in Spain. Deciding that he needed to be closer to her, William moved from his seat and sat on the sofa next to her, squeezing her hand before kissing her cheek lightly.

"Do you want to go for a walk? We can talk more without being overheard?" William suggested.

"I didn't bring my coat; I'm only wearing a hoody." Elizabeth replied.

"Georgiana left her raincoat here, you could wear that."

"Okay."

The two of them left the living room, heading up to William's bedroom so that he could grab her the raincoat to wear. Once inside his room, he opened the wardrobe and began to push hangers back to find the raincoat he had hung up weeks ago when he accidently knocked over the shoebox he kept of his keepsakes.

"What's that?" Lizzy asked, bending down to pick up the contents of the box.

Pulling the raincoat out of the hanger, he looked down to see that she was picking up the photographs and other items.

"Those…are some keepsakes that I kept from our time together in Spain."

She looked up at him with warm eyes.

"You kept all this? Even though you were led to believe that I took your money and ran?" she asked.

William nodded, "I couldn't let go. I guess, even four years on from that time, a part of me just couldn't let you go." He said quietly.

Elizabeth placed a hand on his cheek and kissed him lightly.

"We know the truth now, let's just focus on taking this slowly as we agreed yesterday. We have all the time in the world."

And he knew that she was right, they did have all the time in the world. The night before they had agreed to explore things slowly, take the time to rediscover each other and then they could be a family of three, just him, Elizabeth and Rose; that was all that mattered to him.

ooOoo

In the silence of her bedroom, Caroline stood at the window and watched as a loved up Darcy held hands with Eliza in the grounds below. It was sickening to watch, it made her angry that Eliza was laughing and smiling at whatever it was that Darcy was saying; it should be her down there with the man, not Eliza bloody Bennet.

Ever since Charles had asked her to look for another place to live earlier that day, she had kept to her bedroom and refused to listen to her brother's attempts at apologies. Jane had even tried to talk to her but she refused to move from her bedroom; why was everyone so in love with the bloody Bennet family? It wasn't as if they were anything special.

Jane had a little interior design business, that had been how her brother had fallen in love with Jane in the first place. But what was so special about Eliza? She was a teacher and raising a three-year-old as a single parent. Personally, ever since she had found out about Reginald Darcy keeping Eliza and Rose a secret from his son, she found herself silently agreeing that Darcy Sr. had the right idea.

But it was as she witnessed Darcy pull Eliza by the collar and kiss her urgently and enthusiastically, oh what she would give to be in Eliza's shoes right now. Her fists clenched until her angry thoughts were interrupted by the ringing tone of her mobile phone.

"Hello?" Caroline asked.

"Carrie, I've done it. I've tracked him down and he's in." came Eleanor's reply.

Caroline grinned to herself, "Good work Elle, I'll call you tomorrow to arrange a meeting."

"Bye Carrie, thanks for helping me."

Hanging up the phone, Caroline laughed to herself. She could only hope that George Wickham would prove to be a success in her plan to get Darcy all to herself.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N:** So here's the next chapter and as a treat and a break from all the angst, this chapter is solely Elizabeth and Will with a few other characters in such as Mr. Bennet for example. I figured it was the least that I could do to ensure that the Darcy Sr., Caroline, Wickham and Eleanor plots doesn't completely overtake the story with all their schemes and plots and feeling sorry for themselves.

I don't know when the next chapter will be up, I'm hoping to post it within the next two weeks but I've been a bit ill recently and I have three assignments to complete for my university course before the end of April so that has to take my focus at the moment. So my apologies but I'm not abandoning any of my WIP's, I will be coming back to them when the stress of my life dies down a bit.

Here's to second first dates :)

* * *

Tuesday night came rather quickly, much to Elizabeth's liking. Ever since they had agreed to spend some quality time together alone, both she and Will had been eager for the night to come. The Sunday after they had moved Jane into Netherfield, they had taken Rose to London Zoo again and spent the day strolling around London afterwards; taking Rose to see the street performers at Covent Garden and walking through Hyde Park.

After the staff meeting had ended, she walked through the doors at Longbourn and after a little sit down with her daughter to read a book that Rose had brought home from pre-school, she took her shower and chose out a dress; a navy blue, knee length dress with three-quarter length sleeves. She pulled on a black pair of tights (it was November after all) and sat at her dressing table; plugging in her curling tongs as she began to clip parts of her up to curl the untouched parts of her hair in sections.

There was a knock on her door as she was halfway through doing her hair. Elizabeth shouted at the knocker to come in as she looked at the door through her mirror, smiling as her father came into the room and shut the door behind him.

"Rose is tucked up and asleep in bed, we hadn't even finished reading The Gruffalo." Mr. Bennet said.

"Thanks Dad." Elizabeth replied.

Mr. Bennet sat on her bed and sighed, causing Lizzy to turn around as she held the hot tongs to her head.

"What's the matter?"

"Lizzy, you know that I love you don't you?" Mr. Bennet asked.

Elizabeth frowned, "Of course I do." She replied quickly.

"I'll only ask this once and whatever you say I'll accept your answer and your decision. I've watched you grow closer to that young man you dated and conceived Rose with, it might not seem like I've always watched you but I have. I've seen the way that the two of you look at each other but I need to know that you're one hundred percent certain that reuniting with William Darcy is what you truly want, that it's the best thing for both you and Rose." Mr. Bennet stated.

Elizabeth sighed. In truth she had expected her father to have this talk with her at some point. Her Dad and her had always had a better bond than what she shared with her mother and her father devoted his time and attention to Rose more than the stereotypical grandparent would.

"Dad, you don't need to worry about me. I'm a big girl."

"I'll always worry about you Elizabeth. It's my job."

"Dad, I want to be with him and he wants to be with me. We're taking things slowly and it wasn't his fault about what happened between us, it was his father's and we're determined to make this work."

"Very well. I just wanted things to be clear between us and as long as he makes you and Rose happy and doesn't hurt either of you, then I'll be able to be happy for you both." Mr. Bennet replied.

Elizabeth smiled, releasing the strand of hair from the curling tong before placing in another strand.

"Maybe you should spend less time worrying about me and little more time worrying about Lydia?" Elizabeth suggested with a chuckle.

Mr. Bennet chuckled in return, "Perhaps you're right there. Your youngest sister certainly needs a little more of my time and worry." He agreed.

Her father left her bedroom as she glanced at the clock, she still had half an hour until Will would be picking her up for their date. Elizabeth finished off the last few strands of her hair and put it into the places she wanted before moving on to her make-up.

When she was satisfied with her make-up and hair, she stood up and left her bedroom; heading downstairs to see if Will had arrived yet.

ooOoo

Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the front door of Longbourn three times. Will didn't know why he felt so nervous, it wasn't as if he had never taken Elizabeth out before. But then, maybe it was because they had only just reunited and this was the first time in four years that they were doing something as a couple.

The door opened and he stepped inside, only to be greeted by Elizabeth's father who gestured that the two of them head into the study. Will nodded and followed Mr. Bennet into the room, sitting in one of the empty chairs whilst he watched Mr. Bennet close the study door behind them.

"William, I wanted to have a little chat with you." Mr. Bennet stated.

"A chat?" William asked.

"Yes. A Chat. About you, my daughter and my granddaughter."

And now his nerves were kicking in a little more. He hadn't expected to have a conversation with Elizabeth's father about his reunion with her.

"I've spoken to Elizabeth and she's adamant that you both want to give your relationship another try and I respect her decision, it's her life after all. But I wanted to make it clear to you that I will be really unhappy with you if Elizabeth gets hurt again, the pain and hurt she felt the first time the two of you were separated was painful to watch. The first time there was nothing that I could do but support her through her pregnancy." Mr. Bennet explained.

"Mr. Bennet, with all due respect, it wasn't my doing that Elizabeth was forced to leave me. We've spoken of the true events that occurred and we want to be together in spite of what my father did."

"Yes, she told me that. But from a father's perspective, it isn't nice seeing your daughter return home from what she had always described as a wonderful summer, to be heartbroken beyond repair and carrying a child. Elizabeth and Rose mean the world to me and I want to make sure that you will look after them both."

"Mr. Bennet, you don't need to worry about my intentions or capability of looking after my daughter or the woman that I love. I love your daughter, I never stopped loving her if I'm being honest. I consider myself quite lucky to have Elizabeth back in my life and willing to give our relationship another chance. I lost her once and it hurt more than words can say, and now that I have her back again, I don't intend on letting her go. As for Rose, I loved her from the first moment that I was able to spend quality time with her. I lost out on three years with my child, I'm not going anywhere." William vowed.

Mr. Bennet gave him a small smile.

"I'll hold you to that promise, William. I only want my daughter to be happy and in turn, for my granddaughter to be well cared for and happy too." Mr. Bennet replied.

The two of them rose from their seats just as the study door opened and saw that Elizabeth stood in the doorway, frowning at her father.

"Please tell me that you weren't doing the 'protective dad' speech?" Elizabeth grimaced.

Will looked at her and smiled, admiring the dress she had chosen. She looked utterly beautiful, the way her hair fell to her shoulders in loose curls to the way her eyes sparkled when she caught his gaze.

Mr. Bennet chuckled, "We were just having a little chat, nothing to worry about." He replied.

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow, "Thanks for listening out for Rose for the night. Any problems, give me a ring." She said.

"No worries, you two have fun."

William left the study and took hold of Elizabeth's hand, slightly aware that Mr. Bennet was still watching them as Elizabeth reached for the door handle and opened the front door as they exited. Once they were outside, the cold November air hit them and he drew her closer to him.

"You look beautiful tonight." He muttered, smiling down at her.

She returned the smile, "Thanks, not too shabby yourself." Elizabeth replied with a grin.

The two of them got into Will's car and buckled up, pulling away from the prying eyes behind the windows at Longbourn.

ooOoo

They drove for a while, discussing how their days had been. She had learned that William had picked Rose up from pre-school and had spent the afternoon watching their daughter's favourite Disney films before taking Dash on his afternoon walk whilst Elizabeth told him how her day at work had gone.

When they eventually made it to Watford, they parked the car in one of the local all-night carparks and crossed the street to the shopping complex which held shops, restaurants, a cinema, a casino and a bowling alley.

"Where are we going?" Lizzy asked.

"I figured that since there were no Spanish themed restaurants local to you, a Portuguese theme would be the next best things." Will grinned, taking her hand and heading into the Nando's restaurant.

Elizabeth laughed as the server took them to their table where they had a look at the menu. She had eaten at Nando's a few times with Charlotte and Jane.

"Have you eaten here before?" Elizabeth asked.

William nodded as he looked at his menu.

"A few times with Charles."

After looking over the menu in silence for a few minutes, they both opted to have the peri-peri chicken, a double burger and a wrap for Elizabeth with a side of fries each, with Will choosing a medium spice and Elizabeth opting for the lemon and herb.

Will rose from his seat, only to frown when Elizabeth stood up and started to protest as he got his wallet out of his coat pocket.

"I'm paying." Will insisted.

"I don't expect you to pay for my meal- "

"Elizabeth, just let me spoil my girlfriend once in a while."

Girlfriend. The word had seemed so natural to fall from his lips that it surprised her. They hadn't established the 'boyfriend and girlfriend' label on themselves, they had only agreed to see how things between them went slowly. But hearing him call her his girlfriend, after all this time, was making her feel jittery on the inside.

"Fine, but I'll be slipping in my half of the money when you least expect it." Elizabeth warned with a smile.

Will rolled his eyes, "I'll be right back." He said quietly, kissing her on the cheek as he headed up to the tills to order their food.

She didn't know why, even after all this time, that it bothered her that William would insist on paying for a date when she had always liked to pay her way. Maybe it was because she had always believed in splitting the bill or the cost of anything she did on a date whereas when she and William had been together in Spain, he had tried to pay for everything they did together until she had to make it clear to him that she didn't mind paying sometimes or paying her half, something which had surprised him at the time.

Will returned to their table minutes later with two refillable cokes and sat down, a teasing smirk on his face.

"What's wrong?" Elizabeth asked.

"I was just remembering our first date in Spain, I took you out to one of the local restaurants like I'm doing tonight and it made you really uncomfortable when I paid. When I took you back to your Uncle's house, you had slipped some money into my pocket." William smiled.

"Well…. I think it's because I've always believed in paying my own way for things. Even when you pay for us to take Rose out on the weekends, I still get uncomfortable sometimes."

"Why? She's my daughter too, it's about time I started treating her to days out and buying her things she needs." Will replied.

"I know; I just wouldn't expect it of you."

Taking a mouthful of his drink, Will reached with his spare hand across the table to take hers.

"Elizabeth, I know you're capable of providing for Rose. You've had to do that by yourself ever since Rose was born. But now, we're back together and I want to be able to step up and be that Dad that also provides for his child. So if Rose needs new clothes, shoes, anything else then I'll get it for her." William said softly.

Smiling, she gave his hand a light squeeze. She supposed that he had a point, he wanted to be that kind of Dad that provides for his child then he should be able to do it without her feeling uncomfortable. He had really stepped up ever since Jane and Charles's engagement party and she could see that, even if they hadn't spoken about it much since he had left Pemberley, being able to be a parent to his little girl had made him truly happy.

They chatted about different things, as to whether to tell Rose that they were back together, to the stag and hen do's that they had to plan for Jane and Charles when the topic eventually turned to Will announcing that he was looking for a house locally to move into once Jane and Charles returned from their honeymoon in January.

"I was thinking that a two bedroom would be perfectly comfortable. I know it's a little smaller than what I've been used to my entire life but a two bedroom would be perfect for when you and Rose want to stay over- "

"Stay over? Already picturing us spending weekends at your new place which you haven't even bought or rented yet?" Elizabeth teased.

"If I'm being honest then yes I have pictured that. I've pictured us being a little family and other things but we agreed, we're taking this slowly so no pressure." Will replied, with a small smile.

"Then I should probably tell you that I've also been looking at moving out of Longbourn. I've got a property viewing to rent on Friday after work." Elizabeth admitted.

"You do?"

She nodded, sipping through her straw.

"It's just a viewing but I can't keep living at Longbourn forever. I'm twenty-two, Rose will be starting school next September so I want us to live in a place that we can call ours. Besides, Lydia is becoming more of a nightmare to live with."

"I imagine that your mother wouldn't welcome the news. Is that why you haven't told anyone?" Will asked.

"Well Matthew knows but yeah, that's partly the reason. My mother is still getting used to the fact that Jane moved into Netherfield at the weekend."

"Would you like me to come with you?" Will offered.

"You can if you want to."

"Before I left Pemberley, I managed the tenants that we rented out land and properties to so I can be there for a bit of support."

Elizabeth nodded, taking another sip through her straw as the waiter brought their meals over to them. Whilst they were on the subject of moving out, Will mentioned that Charles had asked Caroline to move out and was in the process of finding her a place to live. Elizabeth laughed when it was mentioned that Caroline had thrown a strop over the fact she had been asked to leave Netherfield but sympathised for the woman, it was after all Caroline's childhood home.

ooOoo

Their meals had been eaten and they had opted not to have dessert due to being full up. So they left the restaurant hand in hand, walking through the shopping complex where they passed several of the wine bars.

"So, considering that this first date went well, do I get to take you out on a second?" Will asked.

He loved the sound of her laughter as she looked at him through twinkling green eyes.

"You know that we've already done the first date, second date thing four years ago, right?" Elizabeth asked.

"Well this was our _second_ first date considering that we're starting again. But that doesn't answer my question. Can I take you on a second date?" William asked.

They stopped as they reached the exit of the shopping complex, still holding hands as he eagerly waited for her answer. He hoped that he didn't sound too pushy in asking her if he could take her out again just the two of them but he had thoroughly enjoyed the evening and was beginning to feel happier than he had in recent weeks.

"I suppose that you could." Lizzy teased, standing on her tiptoes to kiss him.

William instantly wrapped his arms around her, drawing her in closer as his eyes shut and the kiss deepened; tongues slowly moving against each other as he felt her arms wrap around his neck. Ever since they had agreed to take things slowly and they had shared kisses, he had found himself thinking how he could have spent the last four years without being able to kiss her, to hold her in his arms as he was doing in this very moment. He was ruined, he knew that now that he had her back, he was never going to let her go a second time.

It was too brief for his liking. She pulled away from his lips and smiled up at him before stepping away and leading him across the road towards the car park. It was getting late and she had to be at work in the morning as well as taking Rose to pre-school before she was due to start her day of teaching.

The drive back was a peaceful and silent one. He drove with one hand on the steering wheel and the left holding Lizzy's right hand; only letting go when he needed to change gears or use the hand brake before returning to the warmth she offered.

When they arrived back at Longbourn, they both got out of the car so that he could walk her to the front door; feeling like he was a teenager all over again with the typical walking to the door scenario. They hovered in the doorway, not in a rush to say goodbye just yet.

"Thank you for tonight, I really enjoyed it." Elizabeth whispered.

"So did I. I'll text you tomorrow." Will said.

"Goodnight Will." She breathed.

Closing the gap between them, he bent his head down and pressed his lips to hers. Her reaction was instant, hands slipping inside his coat pockets to keep her hands warm as she matched the rhythm he set with his lips. His hands ran through her hair; the curls that had been so perfectly placed at the start of their night were beginning to fall back to their natural state of straightness, but the smooth texture of her hair made his hands relax into the curls.

Their kiss was interrupted when the front door opened and they both sprang apart, both with their hearts hammering away in panic as they looked upon the amused face of Mr. Bennet.

Mr. Bennet checked his watch before meeting Will's gaze.

"Five past ten. You've got her home safely and early, are you trying to score points Mr. Darcy?" Mr. Bennet asked with a laugh.

"Dad!" Elizabeth groaned.

"Goodnight William, I suppose I shall see you tomorrow afternoon when you drop Rose home." Mr. Bennet said, heading into the house.

Hearing the study door shut, William breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm sorry about my Dad." Elizabeth mumbled.

William smiled, cupping her cheek.

"It's fine, believe me." He replied.

A pause.

"I better head in, goodnight Will." Elizabeth whispered, kissing him lightly.

He watched her enter the hall, her hand on the door but continuing to look at him.

"Goodnight Lizzy." He breathed.

With one last smile, she had closed the front door and he turned to head back to his car. As he breathed in deeply and placed his hands into his coat pockets, he frowned. A second later, he pulled out a ten pound note that he hadn't put there and rolled his eyes.

It was then that he came to the conclusion that it wouldn't matter if they fifty first dates which he would pay for because she would always manage to put her half of the bill back in his pocket.


	15. Chapter 15

Looking up at the university campus one last time, Kitty sighed with relief that she now had a month away from university for the Christmas holidays. For the first time in weeks she was going home and looking forward to seeing her mum and Lydia again, she had even missed Lizzy, her dad and Rose but knew it would be weird that Jane's bedroom would be empty.

"Will your parents like me?"

Turning round, she smiled at her boyfriend and nodded.

"My mother will love you. There's no need to worry Denny."

Moving away for university had proven to be successful so far. At first she had been scared at having to be in the adult world, studying and gaining a degree but when she had moved into the student halls of residence, she had met her other roommates. Another girl called Olivia and two boys called James and the other; Dennis Wickham.

Her relationship with Denny was great. They were always doing something every other night, whether it be going to the local bar for half price drinks, going to the local whetherspoon's for a meal or going clubbing with their roommates. Denny treated her like a princess, she knew that Lydia would be envious of her for a change when her little sister would meet her boyfriend.

"Meeting the parents though, it's a bit serious, isn't it?" Denny asked.

"I suppose; I hadn't really thought about it." Kitty replied.

"Would you want to meet mine?"

Kitty shrugged, "I suppose so."

A black car pulled up in front of them that their conversation ceased. Kitty turned just as a man got out of the driver's seat, wearing a suit with his brown hair combed over and the same twinkling blue eyes that Denny had.

"Little brother." The man greeted cheerfully.

She watched as her boyfriend and the man briefly hugged before Denny came to take her hand to introduce her to the man.

"This is my brother George. George, my girlfriend, Kit." Denny introduced.

George simply smiled brightly at her and shook her hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Kit."

"You too. It's nice of you to give us a lift to my parent's house."

"Oh it's no trouble. I will thank your parents for letting me stay the night before I carry on my journey." George replied.

"Your journey to where?" Kitty asked, vaguely remembering asking her mother if Denny's brother could stay the night because he had travel somewhere.

George nodded, "Denny and I have different mothers, I will be spending the remainder of the month in Scotland with my mine." He explained.

"That's quite far to travel."

Denny put their suitcases in the boot of George's car before they all climbed into the warmth.

"I don't do the journey often but Christmas is the time to be with your nearest and dearest."

"Have you heard from Dad recently?" Denny asked.

Kitty noted the awkward silence that followed her boyfriend's question, clearly something had happened between their father and George when the latter shook his head and started the engine.

During the car journey, she listened to the conversation between her boyfriend and his brother, it was mostly George asking questions as to how Denny was getting on after one term at university, how the two of them had met, how long they had been dating until George decided to steer the conversation to include her.

"So Kit, do you come from a big family? Or do you have only one sibling like myself and Denny?" George asked.

"I have four sisters." She replied.

"Wow. Four sisters. Are you the youngest?"

Kitty shook her head, "No, I've got three older and one younger. My eldest sister is actually getting married three days after Christmas so we have a lot going on at our house over the next few weeks."

"It certainly sounds that you will be kept busy, what are your sisters called?"

"Jane, Elizabeth, Mary and Lydia."

"Lovely names, is yours short for something?"

"Catherine, but I've always hated it. People usually call me Kitty or Kit."

"I think Kit suits you, don't you think so Denny?" George said loudly.

Denny looked up from looking out of the window, having gotten bored of the conversation and nodded.

"Kit definitely suits her." Denny agreed quietly.

"Hmmm." George hummed, "So, what's your plans over Christmas holidays, little brother?"

"I'm staying with Kit for Christmas and then travelling on the train to Mum and Dad's for New Year before Dad takes me back to university." Denny replied.

The conversation ceased after that, whenever Denny mentioned their father, George seemed to clam up and change the subject. Kitty couldn't help but wonder what could have possibly happened for George to not want to talk about their dad.

It wasn't long before they pulled up outside Longbourn where she smiled as her family came out of the house to greet them. They hadn't changed much since the weekend she had returned to try on bridesmaid dresses for Jane.

"Oh Kitty, I was beginning to worry about traffic jams on the motorway." Mrs Bennet fretted.

Kitty laughed as she hugged her mother.

"It wasn't that bad." She said, giving Elizabeth and Lydia brief hugs before introducing George and Denny to her family.

Once the introductions were made and suitcases unpacked from the car, they all went inside the house where interrogations began over her relationship with Denny whilst Elizabeth chatted a little to George. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that Lydia was sulking and she could only guess the reason why; for once, it wasn't her little sister getting the attention over a new relationship and it felt good to have Lydia feel jealous over her for a change.

ooOoo

Around mid-afternoon, it began to snow. The heating was turned up to full blast to warm the house whilst George was pulling on his coat and gloves to be shown the grounds by Elizabeth and Lydia. So far he had learned that the woman he had been paid to seduce was quite lovely, she was polite and listened to what others had to say but mostly he watched her interaction with the child Eleanor Clarence had told him all about. He knew everything about Reginald Darcy's scheme to keep Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth apart and the child a secret.

The little girl, Rose, was a pretty little thing who was currently running across the blanket of snow that had already begun to lay inches on the ground beneath their feet. Lydia ran on ahead to have a snowball fight with the toddler, leaving him and Elizabeth to take a slow walk alone.

"Your daughter is quite an inquisitive and curious child, isn't she?" George asked.

Elizabeth smiled, not looking at him.

"She certainly is." She agreed.

"I think it's delightful that your little girl is so confident with her curiosity to things, especially at her age. My own boy was always quite shy." George added.

He watched as Elizabeth looked at him.

"You have a son?"

George gave her a small smile, "Yes, he's nearly eight." He replied.

A slight pause.

"Do you see him often?"

"Every now and then. His mother and I aren't really on speaking terms but I see him when I can. I'll be stopping by to give him some Christmas presents and spend the day with him before I continue to my mother's. I call him every week."

"That's all you can do I suppose, be there for your child." Elizabeth muttered.

"I try but there's nobody more important in the world to me than my child. I'm sure you feel the same about Rose."

"I can agree with you there," Elizabeth said brightly, "Rose is my entire my world."

"I think it's admirable, raising her alone. Kitty told me a little bit about your situation in the car on the way up here, I hope that doesn't make me sound too nosy."

"Kitty can say too much for her own good but thanks for the kind words, I suppose."

They continued to walk in silence, watching as Lydia and Rose continued to have their snowball fight. From what he had observed about Elizabeth during his brief time at the Bennet family home it was that she was devoted to her little girl, her whole attention was put into whatever Rose needed and he was beginning to think that his usual methods to distract a woman weren't going to work on Elizabeth Bennet.

Eleanor had painted this woman to be some sort of homewrecker when in fact it appeared that Elizabeth was the complete opposite to how Eleanor had painted her. Having already accepted and spent some of the money that Eleanor had given him for his 'job' he knew he was going to have to spend a little more time at Longbourn if possible.

ooOoo

After a mini snowball fight with Lydia, Rose and their house guest, Elizabeth went back inside to warm up. During the time she had spent talking to George Wickham, she felt as if he was trying hard to impress her. It was the way he had looked at her constantly; as if the car and the way he dressed, not to mention the way he brought up the subject of his own child, were his way of doing so. She hardly knew this man, yet for him to mention that he had a child that he barely saw but tried to do everything for was as if he was trying to justify it. It seemed a little strange to her that he would mention the fact that he was barely on speaking terms with an ex-girlfriend and then him paying her the compliment of him finding it admirable that she was raising Rose as a single parent. Well, she wasn't raising her child as a single parent any more.

But it wasn't just the staring from George. It was the way that her mother and two of her younger sisters were talking about George in hushed whispers when she entered the kitchen and then giggling over him.

"It's almost as if you've never seen a man before." Elizabeth tutted at them.

"Oh Lizzy shush! We don't want him overhearing!" Lydia scolded.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, "We barely know the bloke. He's simply staying the night before he continues on to wherever it is he's going."

"You know he's seen a lot of the world? I was speaking to him a little before we went outside in the snow. He's been to all these exotic places Lizzy, a lot better than Uncle Ed's bar in Spain. He works for a bank, barely takes holidays so he gets a lot of time of when he does want to take one! The car he's driving is a temporary one whilst his Porsche gets fixed-"

"He told you all this?" Lizzy interrupted.

Lydia nodded dreamily, "He just sounds so successful! And he's got a kid as well Lizzy so there's something in common with you there-"

"Lydi, I wouldn't be so easily impressed. I met the bloke a few hours ago and only because he's the brother of my sister's boyfriend and the fact he needed a place to spend the night-"

"This is just typical of you Lizzy-"

"Lydia, he seems nice, he seems like a devoted parent from what he's told me about his child but we barely know him. All I mean is that it takes time to truly know someone." Lizzy sighed.

She hadn't wanted to argue with Lydia over her little sister's evident crush on a man that they had all just met, especially a man who made her feel a little uncomfortable with the staring, the compliment about her parenting of Rose and now the way he had apparently been telling Lydia about his lifestyle, maybe he was just nervous about relaxing around people and bragging about his job, his car and his travelling were his way of trying to be liked. In a way, she felt a little pity for George Wickham if this was how he had to make a first impression.

She left the kitchen after her mother started commenting on how she was just jealous that Lydia had taken a shine to George and the three continued to talk about the newly, well-travelled, stranger who had come to visit. Walking into the living room, she noticed that Kitty's boyfriend Denny was sat in silence watching football highlights on the TV. She couldn't help but feel sorry for him either, the way that her sister's were talking about Denny's older brother was enough to make anyone feel uncomfortable.

Outside, Mr Bennet was speaking with George on the driveway. The latter's car bonnet was propped open and the two were peering inside the engine. Curious as to what was going on, she went outside to join them.

"Is everything okay, Dad?" Elizabeth asked.

Mr Bennet looked up, "It appears that George's car is playing up. He was asking me where the nearest petrol garage was so that he could top up his fuel when the engine wouldn't start." He replied.

"And what with the snow and cold temperatures, I need to be able to warm my car up each day." George grumbled.

"Shall I give the local garage a call?" Lizzy suggested.

George looked at her and smiled, "That would be great, thank you!" he said enthusiastically.

She headed back inside the house and called the local garage, with a mechanic coming out about half an hour later to look at the car. It wasn't until the mechanic declared that the car needed a new starter motor and it would take a few days to order one from the suppliers that Mrs Bennet offered George an extended stay at Longbourn.

"I don't want to get in anybody's way." George said politely.

"Nonsense! A few extra days whilst your car gets repaired won't be any trouble. We're used to a big house and free accommodation is better than staying in a pricey hotel in Watford!" Mrs Bennet insisted.

"Only if you and your husband are absolutely sure, Mrs Bennet." George mumbled.

"Of course dear! Not a problem at all!" Mrs Bennet gushed.

Lizzy rolled her eyes as she listened the conversation between her mother and their new houseguest, she certainly knew that Lydia would get her fill of enjoyment now that her crush was staying a little longer.

They ate dinner at half past five that night, Mrs Hill had cooked them lasagne for their meal but Lydia and Kitty were questioning George on every aspect of his life to which he was more than willing to answer.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" Lydia had asked.

Rose snickered, "Aunty Lydia likes the new man, mummy!" the three-year-old teased.

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Shut up Rose!"

"If you didn't you wouldn't-"

Lydia shot a glare in Rose's direction, "Children should know not to interrupt!"

Elizabeth sighed as she placed down her knife and fork and gestured for Rose to get down from the table.

"You really feel the need to argue against a three-year-old? Lydi, that's a bit's pathetic and she has a point!" Elizabeth said, taking her daughter out of the dining room.

She didn't care to look back to see what was happening once she left, she simply went upstairs with Rose and the two put on a DVD to watch before bath time.

"Mummy?"

"Yes Rose?"

Elizabeth looked down at her little girl, tucking some stray curls behind Rose's ears.

"Why didn't I see Fizz today?"

"Rose, start calling him Daddy please."

"Okay."

"Your daddy was helping Caroline move into her new house."

"I don't like Caroline." Rose stated.

"I know sweetheart." Elizabeth replied with a small smile.

"She wears funny colours."

Elizabeth let out a light chuckle as they turned their attention back to the film. She was looking forward to when the school broke up for the Christmas holidays in two and a half weeks, not just because she loved seeing the look on Rose's face on Christmas morning, or the fact that it tended to snow quite heavily around this time of year, it was the fact that it would be her first Christmas with William and then Jane was getting married to Charles a few days later. It was just the thought of those few things that she had to look forward to that made her feel that everything was falling into place.

ooOoo

By seven o'clock that evening, Caroline was settled into her new two-bedroom house not that far from Netherfield. It was the only place that she had agreed was worthy of her, her bedroom had a small en-suite bathroom with new plumbing put in as well as underfloor heating in the kitchen and bathrooms in the house.

Charles took off around an hour before she and Darcy had finished up, something about Jane not feeling too good and wanting to check in on her. Jane. Perfect Jane who had been the reason why she had been forced to move out of her family home, the one who had completely bewitched her brother beyond common sense.

"I've finished the last of the boxes." Darcy announced.

Caroline turned around, smiling and gestured for him to come into her new kitchen. Most of the plates and cutlery had been unpacked and she was holding two different Chinese takeaway menus.

"Thank you for your help Darcy."

"No problem, I'll see you around I guess."

As he turned to leave, she called him back. He turned to face her and she stepped forward to close the distance between them.

"I would like to thank you somehow for your help today. Would you like to stay for a takeaway with me? My treat. A little bit of dinner and wine to say thank you?" Caroline suggested.

His eyes widened slightly, "You really don't need to do that." Darcy replied.

She placed her hands on his chest, still holding the menus.

"I insist. I would have bought dinner for Charles had he not hurried home to see Jane so it will be just us two." Caroline purred.

He tried shifting away from her but she dropped the menus to the floor and grasped the collar of his shirt lightly, leaning her head closer to his.

"If you'd prefer to work up an appetite first, we could always test out the new bed I bought." Caroline whispered.

Why did he look so horrified at her suggestion? Caroline frowned as he pushed her away and stepped at least three steps away from her.

"I don't think so." Darcy protested.

"Why ever not? It's been a while for you, I'd imagine." Caroline said.

"Caroline, I know that you've always harboured an attraction or something for me but it's unrequited. To me, you're simply my best friend's little sister and nothing more." Darcy stated.

Caroline blinked, "T-then w-hy did you agree to help me move house? Why did you stay when Charles left an hour ago?" she asked.

"Because you still had things that needed to be moved in and it was the decent thing to do when I said I would help you move out. You need to realise that I will never be interested in you because I'm in love with someone else."

"Eleanor?" she scoffed, "I would be better for you than her!"

"Not Eleanor. Elizabeth, my girlfriend."

Caroline scoffed again, "The mother of your child, Darcy? The only reason that you're with her is because she's a rebound from your breakup with Eleanor."

"Think whatever you like about my relationship with Elizabeth but I love her, I always have. I should never have let her go. Now goodnight Caroline, I hope you get settled in well." Darcy replied.

Nothing more was said as she watched him turn on his heel and slam the front door behind him on his exit. As she moved from her kitchen into her living room, she silently cursed herself for trying to make a move on Darcy, it was clear that Eliza had too much of a hold on him and she could only hope that Eleanor was keeping to her part of the plan successfully.

ooOoo

At six o'clock on Sunday morning, Elizabeth went downstairs quietly in order to start her day. For once, Rose was still fast asleep and dead to the world, usually her daughter was an early riser but this morning proved a little different. If Rose woke during the middle of the night, her daughter would usually sneak into her bed which was a nice surprise for Elizabeth to wake up to in the mornings; seeing a mass of brown curls on the pillow next to hers and the sleepy sounds her daughter made brought a smile to her face.

But Rose remained in her own bedroom this morning, Elizabeth had checked before deciding to have an early breakfast and watch the morning news. But it was as she walked from the stairs and to the living room that she stopped, hearing a conversation that was meant to stay private.

"I don't like it George, the pretending. What the hell have you told Kit's little sister? The girl won't leave you alone, she thinks that you're some type of hotshot working in the city with a fancy car and holidays in Dubai."

"Denny, relax will you. I'm simply trying to impress this family of your girlfriend. If you and Kit ever got serious, they'd want to be impressed with your family. After all, family connections seem to be quite important to that mother of theirs."

"And what's wrong with the truth?"

A slight pause before she saw the shadow on the wall of the older brother grabbing the younger one by the t-shirt.

"You'd better not spill anything of our family's secrets. I've just started to get my second chance and I won't let you ruin it for me, little brother!" George threatened.

Deciding that whatever was happening under her family's roof needed to be stopped, Elizabeth entered the living room with wide eyes. George immediately released Denny and flashed her a toothy grin whilst Denny looked slightly wary of his older brother.

"Good morning, Elizabeth." George greeted.

"Good morning, everything okay?" she asked.

"All good, I slept quite well. Your parents are very kind to allow me to stay here for a few days." George replied.

Elizabeth smiled, exiting the living room to go into the kitchen to start her breakfast. Mrs Hill would be round in half an hour to start the day so she decided to leave it to the housekeeper to make their guests some breakfast. As she sat on the kitchen counter, she found herself thinking of the conversation she had overheard between the Wickham brothers. Clearly Denny was uncomfortable with George being present at Longbourn for a longer stay than originally intended and the way that George had suddenly grabbed Denny and threatened his little brother made her think that there was definitely more to the man than what met the eye.

But her thoughts on the subject came to an end when George entered the kitchen, still grinning at her whilst his eyes roamed over her.

 _Slightly pervy can also be added to the list._ Elizabeth thought to herself.

"Can I make myself something to eat?" George asked.

"The housekeeper starts at half past six with breakfast but go ahead, bread is kept in the breadbin and the toaster is next to the kettle. Or there are some cereals in the cupboard above the toaster." Elizabeth pointed out.

George smiled, opening up the breadbin and pulled out two slices before placing them into the toaster.

"Elizabeth, may I ask you something?" George asked.

"Sure. What is it?"

"Well, the garage is closed on Sundays so I don't know how long I'll be staying here until my car is fixed. In the meantime, I'd like to get to know you better." George replied.

Was he really asking what she thought he was asking?

"I'd like to take you out a few times, to dinner, a film, something else. What do you think?" George asked.

"I'm flattered that you've taken an interest but I'm afraid that I can't. I have a boyfriend who I am very much committed to." Elizabeth replied.

His expression turned to disappointment and the grin that he had worn in her presence had gone. But she barely knew this man, but what she did know made her uncomfortable and after overhearing the conversation with his little brother, it was clear that this man had secrets to hide.

"Oh…never mind then. It's just…I've taken quite a liking to you." George muttered.

"I'm sorry but I'm not the sort of woman to go out with multiple men. I have a boyfriend, the father of my child and I want a lot with him." Elizabeth explained.

George nodded curtly as she left the kitchen, she didn't want to be in the same room as him now that she had rejected him.

A little while later the rest of the family woke up and sat in the dining room for breakfast whilst Lizzy returned to her room to get dressed for the day and had a text from William around ten o'clock saying that he was one his way over to spend the day with her and Rose.

When she hurried downstairs and sent Rose up to her bedroom to change out of her nightclothes, she saw William pulling up on the driveway. She didn't know why she felt excited to see him, perhaps it was because she hadn't seen in since Friday evening when they had taken Rose out for dinner or perhaps it was because she felt like she was eighteen all over again but as he switched off the engine and got out of the car, she wrapped her arms around his neck and greeted him with a hungry kiss to his lips.

It only took Will a few seconds to catch up with the pace she had set with her lips, his arms holding her tightly to him as his tongue slid gently into her mouth to caress her own. He smiled against her lips when she moved her hands into his hair, gripping lightly as she stepped closer to him, wanting to feel the warmth radiating from his body.

But it was all over when they heard footsteps on the gravel. Lizzy pulled away from him and sighed, the look in his eyes were warm, full of adoration and passion for her which only made her heart beat faster.

"Good morning to you too." Will chuckled.

They turned around to see Rose stood by the doorway before their daughter ran up to her daddy to give him a cuddle.

"Daddy, where are we going today?" Rose asked.

Elizabeth looked at her daughter in surprise. Since Rose and William had begun spending time together, not once had she referred to him as 'Daddy', it had always been 'Fizz' but to hear her little girl actually call him that was nice to hear. Even William seemed surprised and happy to hear the word fall from Rose's lips so naturally.

"I don't know; why don't you choose?" William suggested.

Rose smiled and jumped out of his arms, running back into the house to get her wellies and coat on.

"I didn't just dream that, did I?" William asked her.

Elizabeth laughed lightly as the two of them went into the house.

"No, I heard it too. For the first time since the two of you met, she called you 'daddy'. It was lovely to hear." Elizabeth replied.

As Lizzy pulled on her own coat, they heard the sounds of giggling and deep, male laughter. Seconds later, they were joined by Lydia, Kitty and George. Elizabeth watched as George's expression changed from laughter to being somewhat uncomfortable and it wasn't until she looked up at Will, she saw why.

Her boyfriend was glaring at the man.

* * *

 **A/N:** So, this chapter is finally here. Sorry about how it ended but the next chapter you will get to see Wickham and Will's reaction to seeing each other again when they haven't done so in years.

I'd love to know your thoughts on this chapter, what did you make of Caroline's failed seduction? Or Elizabeth's impression of George? Let me know.

The next chapter will be coming soon, hopefully by the 1st March.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N:** Apologies for the lateness of this chapter, I've been on bedrest for the last week or so which is why this chapter is coming later than I said. I'm hoping to update again before the month is over so please continue to read :)

* * *

An awkward pause and a few moments of silence were shared as Elizabeth looked up at her boyfriend, confused as to why he would give a stranger a frosty reception. She glanced at Wickham, frowning as the house guest appeared to be nervous all of sudden.

"Darcy," Wickham greeted, "Been a while."

"That is has." William agreed icily.

"You two know each other?" Elizabeth asked her boyfriend.

But it wasn't William who answered her question.

"Darcy and I went to boarding school together."

"Oh I didn't-"

"I'd love to stay and chat but your lovely little sister was going to show me around the local area. Shall we, Lydia?" Wickham said, offering his arm to Lydia.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes as Lydia giggled and looped her own arm around Wickham's and the two left the house. Kitty headed into the living room where Denny was watching some TV show, leaving Will and Elizabeth alone in the hallway.

"How long has that man been here?" Will asked her quietly.

She pulled her coat on, "Since yesterday. My parents have said he can stay for a few days until his car gets fixed." Elizabeth replied.

Rage was evident in his facial expression, his fists clenched by his sides until he stepped towards her.

"Pack a bag for you and Rose. The two of you will be staying with me until that man has left Longbourn." Will said insistently.

Elizabeth frowned, "Why?"

"Whilst that man is under this roof, you need to stay with me where you'll be safe."

"I'm not going anywhere-"

"Elizabeth, if I have to drag you to Netherfield-"

"Drag me? You haven't explained _why_ we need to stay with you and you can't exactly force us to stay there without Charles's say so." Elizabeth snapped.

"Once Charles learns that Wickham is here, he'll be perfectly okay with you and Rose staying with me until that man leaves!" Will replied hotly.

Elizabeth sighed, "I'll only go with you if you tell me why this man is so dangerous that I can't stay in my family home whilst he stays here." she said.

"I'll compromise with you. If you pack a bag for you and Rose for a few days, once we're at Netherfield we can talk privately and I'll tell you why Wickham is dangerous."

Feeling like this was the only way that she would get an explanation from her boyfriend, she sighed again and headed upstairs to pack a bag for her and Rose whilst William waited with Rose in the hallway. She couldn't think of what had happened to make Will so eager and determined to make sure that she and Rose were safe but she concluded that Wickham must have done something really bad for her boyfriend to react this way.

ooOoo

 _"Hello?"_

 _"Denny, how's my little brother?"_

 _It had been a while since Denny had heard from his older brother, whenever they did talk George usually wanted something._

 _"I'm okay, what about you?" Denny asked._

 _"I'm great. Listen, when do you finish for university?" George replied._

 _"Two weeks, I'm going to my girlfriend's for Christmas." Denny said._

 _"Do you want a lift? I'm heading to Scotland for the festive period."_

 _"Sure, but you usually stay somewhere overnight before you go to see your mother. Have you got somewhere sorted?"_

 _"Not yet, unless you want to ask your girlfriend if I can stay overnight."_

 _"I'll ask Kit to get in touch with her parents to ask. I'll call you back."_

The phone conversation had been going round in his head all day. This morning George had threatened him, he had never done that before and he was suspicious that his brother had some ulterior motive as to why he was spending so much time at the Bennet family home, his car surely had to be a cover story.

"Denny? Denny? Are you listening to me?"

He came out of his thoughts and blinked, looking at his girlfriend apologetically.

"Sorry Kit, I was miles away. What were you saying?" Denny asked.

"I think Lydia has taken a liking to your brother. How old is George?" Kitty asked.

Denny sighed, of course everyone found George charming. There was just something about his older brother that women found appealing, like he was a stereotypical bad boy; of course, he knew all about George's past despite his older brother's insistence that what had happened at boarding school had been consensual.

"Kit, I wouldn't put too much trust in my brother." Denny cautioned.

His girlfriend frowned, "What do you mean? He's your brother. You haven't said a bad word about him, then again you haven't ever really mentioned him until recently." Kitty said.

"Kit, he's not what he seems. There's a reason he and my father don't talk and I don't want you to get hurt whilst he's staying here. You're probably best to warn your sister as well to be wary of him." Denny replied.

She still frowned at him, "Well, he and Lydia have gone out. Lydi is showing him around Meryton before they come back for lunch."

Denny groaned, it was just like George to charm his way into someone's attention. He had tried to warn his brother to leave the Bennet girls alone that morning before Kit's older sister had interrupted their conversation. It seemed that Elizabeth at least seemed a bit suspicious of his brother.

"Kit, promise me that you won't find yourself alone with George." Denny said quietly.

"But why? Don't you trust me or something?" Kitty asked, a little outraged.

Switching off the TV, Denny took his hands in hers.

"There's something that I'm going to tell you, I don't know the full story as I was only a kid when it happened but women can't trust my brother and this is the reason why."

ooOoo

They arrived at Netherfield with a sulky Rose in the back of the car, their three year old wanted to go out straight away but Elizabeth was determined to get answers from Will before they went anywhere. Getting out of the car, the three of them went into the house and asked Charles and Jane to watch Rose for a little while. Will muttered something to Charles which caused her future brother-in-law's eyes to widen and nod.

Nothing else was said as she and Will headed upstairs and once her bags were placed on the floor in Will's bedroom, she shut the door behind them. She had agreed to her and Rose staying at Netherfield because of the presence of his former school friend at Longbourn but now it was his turn to live up to the promise of telling her exactly why he had overreacted to George Wickham being under the same roof as her and their daughter.

"Okay, Rose is downstairs with Jane and Charles and we're up here for a private talk. Do you want to explain to me why you insisted on us staying here with you?" Elizabeth asked.

Will sighed heavily, sitting on the bed and gesturing for her to sit next to him. Elizabeth moved next to him, waiting patiently for him to begin his explanation.

"Well he's already told you that we went to boarding school together and for the first few years we were good friends. Him, Bingley and a few others sort of had a friendship group. But it was during our first year of sixth form that we began to see Wickham for his true self. My cousin Anne is the same age as me and she also happened to attend the same boarding school that we all did. Anne didn't exactly have a good upbringing, my Aunt is overprotective and Anne led quite an isolating life until she was able to escape to school. At school, Anne thrived. She was sociable, she was friendly and she liked to laugh. She got to know George Wickham quite well but he was never interested in her, she was never really his type; he always described as her plain and bookish. Wickham preferred girls who were more open about being sexual in public, they would try and grope at him, he loved all that attention and Anne was never like that." Will began.

Elizabeth frowned but nodded her understanding as he went to continue his story.

"It was one night at a party in the dorms, a party that shouldn't really have happened because the majority of us were underage. But it was nearly the summer, we were almost finishing our first year of sixth form and about to start our second and wanted to let our hair down so to speak. Anne was invited, she got dressed up with her group of friends and came to the party. I watched her as much as I could, she didn't really like to drink that much alcohol but in the middle of the night, I lost sight of her."

She felt her stomach twist into knots as she suspected what her boyfriend was about to say next and she could only hope that she was wrong.

"It was three in the morning before I found her. She was in one of the unisex bathrooms, she had locked herself in and when she finally agreed to let me in, I knew why. Her hair was a mess, her dress had been ripped and glass was shattered on the floor. The smell of vomit filled the room and her make-up was all over her face. Anne told me that she thought her drink had been spiked and she had spent some time alone with Wickham in the bathroom, only to be raped."

"H-he did that to her?" Elizabeth asked in a whisper.

Will nodded, "We told the headteacher and an investigation was launched. Wickham was expelled and sent home to his father. But my Aunt hated that the whole school was gossiping about Anne, they called her names, they put drawings underneath her dorm door, they put graffiti on the girls changing room walls apparently. But then it got worse. Anne found out she was pregnant."

Elizabeth felt sick. The child that Wickham had told her about, the ex-girlfriend she assumed he had a bad relationship with wasn't actually the truth at all.

"What happened?" she asked.

Will cleared his throat, "My Aunt couldn't take more of the gossip, she thought that Anne had shamed their family name and so forced Anne out of school and kept her locked up at their estate in Kent. Instead of getting help for her daughter, Catherine tried to make Anne abort the baby and dropped the charges against Wickham. Anne carried the baby to term and gave birth to a little boy she called Louis. She gave her son up for adoption at her mother's insistence. But because she had nobody to talk to about her trauma and because Catherine refused me visits to my cousin, Anne's mental health suffered."

"So her own mother wouldn't help her?" Elizabeth asked, angry that a parent could do that to their own child.

"Catherine cares more for reputation than she does for her daughter's wellbeing. In the end, my mother's brother intervened. Anne had begun self-harming and starving herself that my Uncle forced Anne to go to a hospital where she was kept under close watch. She's still in there now. As for Wickham, Catherine told the headteacher that it was consensual. I'm assuming because she wanted the scandal to be forgotten about and so the charges were dropped and his father paid a lot of money to the school to allow him to come back. Wickham was only back for two months before he got kicked out for getting into a fight with me. I was only allowed to stay because my father regularly made donations to the school. The last I heard of him, he and his father had fallen out and weren't speaking and he was gambling away his inheritance." Will finished.

After a few minutes of silence to process the story of what Wickham was really like, she looked at him and squeezed his hand.

"No wonder you didn't want me and Rose staying with Wickham at Longbourn. But what about my sisters? Lydia is completely smitten with him and then there's Kitty and Mary comes home soon."

"I'll happily tell your father if you want me to. The police may have let Wickham go uncharged because Anne withdrew her statement but I wouldn't trust him around any woman or young girl, even now and it's been nearly eight years." Will replied.

"Someone has to say something to my father." Elizabeth stated.

Will nodded his agreement, "Shall we ask Jane and Charles if they can watch Rose whilst we go back to Longbourn? I would have told your father when I first arrived but my main concern was getting you and Rose out of Wickham's reach." he said.

"Let's go. The sooner we get to Longbourn, the sooner my sisters will be safe."

ooOoo

The youngest Bennet sister was nothing like the other two Bennet girls that he had met so far. Elizabeth seemed a little...guarded from what he could tell and Kitty was madly in love with his little brother. Lydia, however, was rather flirtatious, forward and inquisitive. It was almost a shame that Elizabeth didn't have Lydia's personality traits, it would sure make his job a lot easier if she was like her little sister. So far, Elizabeth had rejected him once but he wasn't going to give up so easily, he was just going to have to try a lot harder if he wanted the rest of the money that Eleanor Clarence was offering.

Lydia had shown him around the local area, pointing out where she went to sixth form and batting her eyelids at him when she mentioned that she would be turning seventeen soon. He couldn't help but grin back at her when it was clear that she was trying to charm him.

"Is the bed in the spare room to your liking?" Lydia asked, "We've always had complaints about it being too uncomfortable but my dad refuses to replace the damn thing."

George smiled, "I'm just grateful that your parents have been kind enough to allow me to stay in their home whilst my car gets fixed."

"I'll miss having you to talk to, you're such a fascinating person." Lydia complimented.

"I'm really not." George said.

"But you are! You're the first person that I've met who gets to travel as much as you want. Your life is so fascinating, I'm a little jealous at how many adventures you must have."

"It can be quite lonely at times, the nights especially."

They stopped just before the entrance to the Longbourn driveway, stood inches apart. Lydia looked up at him through blue eyes that sparkled with mischief which only made him smirk at her. She was giving him all the signals of a willing young woman and whilst he knew that Eleanor would probably be angry if she ever found out, there was no reason why he couldn't get Elizabeth away from Darcy as well as having a little bit of fun with the little sister.

"Well...if you ever want some company and a more comfortable bed whilst you continue to stay here..." Lydia whispered, stepping closer to him and hands playing with the buttons on his coat, "you can always sneak into my bedroom...my parents sleep heavily so you could sneak in after everyone is in bed and we can have a little fun."

George grinned down at her, pulling her tighter to him and pressing his hands into her backside.

"That sounds like quite a good idea." he agreed, pressing his lips to her throat.

Lydia giggled and pressed her lips to his lightly before pulling away.

"Plenty more time for this later but we have to head in for lunch." Lydia said, stepping away from and leading him back into the house.

But it was as they entered the hallway and about to take their coats off when Mr. Bennet stopped them.

"Lydia, go find your mother and get some lunch. This young man and I need to have a little chat." Mr Bennet said sternly.

George watched as Lydia huffed in annoyance and stormed off towards the dining room. He followed Mr Bennet into the study and shut the door behind him, wondering why the old man had suddenly gone from being the welcoming host to a hostile old fart.

"I don't know you very well, George. You were invited into my home as a guest and because you were the brother of my daughter's boyfriend so I thought you could be trusted but from what I've heard about you during your absence today, you've lied about your life. You don't have an important job, you don't drive a flash car, you don't travel the world as you've made us believe. Why did you lie?" Mr Bennet asked.

Shit. How had the old man found out?

George hung his head, "I'm sorry, I don't always fit in very easily when I meet new people. The lies I told...I wanted to impress you all because you had been so kind to allow me to stay here when my car broke down and I thought that Dennis would be better liked by you all if he had a brother who was quite important in the business world. You have my apologies."

"If that is true then I can understand but as a stranger who was granted my hospitality and my spare room, you've broken that trust. You may stay the night tonight but tomorrow morning, you'll have to leave and stay at a hotel or something." Mr Bennet said firmly.

"Very well." George muttered quietly.

Nothing else was said on the subject as he left the study to go and have lunch with the rest of the Bennet family. This was going to make his plan to seduce Elizabeth a lot harder now that he had to leave Longbourn.

ooOoo

As they arrived back at Longbourn, they were greeted by Mr Bennet.

"What brings you two back here so early?" her father asked.

"We need to talk to you about the house guest." Elizabeth replied.

"No need, he'll be gone tomorrow morning."

"He will?"

Mr Bennet nodded, noting her surprise.

"His brother filled me in on his past and despite Denny being insistent that he didn't know the full story and that George has told him that the matter at boarding school was consensual, I've asked him to leave. Your mother was trying to argue the young man's case but I said that one more night and then he's gone. Mary doesn't return home for the holidays for another week, Denny, Kitty and Lydia will be staying at the Lucas's tonight just to be on the safe side and you and Rose are at Netherfield anyway, nobody will get hurt." her father explained.

At least her father had taken some precautions against the man who had raped Will's cousin. But before they could tell her father the full story behind Wickham's time at boarding school with Will, her father turned to go back into the house and left the two of them on the driveway. Will, looking absolutely furious, got back into his car and she followed suit.

On the way back to Netherfield, neither of them said anything. Will stuck to the speed limit but he still looked furious and she didn't know what to do. Taking a deep breath, she reached across to him and placed a hand on his thigh, squeezing gently to let him know that she was there if he needed her. His face softened and placed his own hand over hers, squeezing in return.

"I'm sorry, that man is full of lies. It wasn't consensual, Anne was in no fit state and because of my Aunt, he'll never be punished for what he did to her." William sighed.

"No need to apologise, at least he'll be gone tomorrow. My dad has sorted the matter and my sisters will be safe." Elizabeth replied.

"I just thought that after boarding school I would never see that man again. He sort of disappeared and the last I heard he was gambling away his inheritance and had fallen out with his father." Will muttered.

"I understand, but I'm here if you need me."

He looked at her with warm eyes and a small smile, "I _do_ need you. You and Rose." he whispered.

They pulled into the driveway as it started to pour down with rain, the two got out of the car and ran to the house; only to see a note from Charles and Jane in the living room that they had taken Rose and Dash out for a walk. As they took of their coats, Elizabeth felt herself shiver from the cold and wetness. Her t-shirt was wet from the amount of rain that had soaked through the material of her coat.

"Come upstairs, I'll get you a towel to dry off and you can change into fresh clothes." Will laughed, looking at how soaked their run in the rain had gotten her.

She smiled gratefully, taking his hand as the two of them walked up the stairs to his bedroom. Elizabeth sighed happily as he wrapped an arm over her shoulder, drawing her closer to him as they walked down the end of the hallway and went inside his bedroom. Will went to the wardrobe, pulling out a towel for her to dry her face and hair.

"Thanks." Elizabeth said, pulling her hair out of its ponytail and began to dry.

But seconds later, his lips were on hers urgently. Will's hands were in her hair and holding her face to his as he kissed her roughly. Elizabeth dropped the towel and placed her hands on his hips, feeling the hard muscle beneath his t-shirt and squeezed lightly as she met the pace of his kiss; urgent and full of want.

It only lasted a few seconds when he pulled his mouth away from hers.

"I'm sorry, I had this powerful urge to kiss you." Will whispered against her lips.

She responded, not with words, but placed her lips back to his and resumed what he had started; pushing his t-shirt up a little further and stroking along the top of where the waistband of his jeans sat, pressing herself as close to him as she could. Will groaned into her mouth as his hands moved slowly from her hair, down her neck and then her back; copying her actions of pushing her t-shirt up to feel the skin that he hadn't touched in four years.

Will's hands moved higher up her abdomen as Elizabeth broke away from his lips to catch her breath. Just his touch made her skin ignite with desire, his lips were now at her throat and kissing hotly at the sensitive skin there which made her close her eyes as she couldn't even think straight. His lips were now at her ear, biting down gently on her ear lobe that she cried out in pleasure.

"We should stop." she heard him whisper.

But she didn't want to stop. Not really. She wanted their time alone together to continue like this, despite the two of them agreeing to take things slowly. When she didn't respond to his words, he stepped away from her; taking deep breaths to calm his urges. Elizabeth bit her lip, moving to sit in the chair by the window to give William some space.

After several minutes of the two of them calming down from their urges, they looked at each other.

"We should talk about what could have happened just now." Will said.

"Are you angry or something that we could have progressed that to sex?" Elizabeth asked bluntly.

To her surprise, he shook his head.

"No, I'm far from angry. I want you, in all ways Lizzy. But this isn't just about my desires-"

"I seem to recall kissing you back in the same tone. I was the one who pushed your t-shirt up first." Elizabeth pointed out.

"That you did. But it's still early days and we agreed to take things slowly like you wanted, I don't want you to feel like we have to rush into anything physical. Besides, I'd want to make it special for you." Will replied.

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow, "I was perfectly fine with the pace we were going at, I would have told you and stopped it if I was uncomfortable. You realise we've had sex before and conceived a child from it? Will, you don't have to make this relationship as Spain 2.0, I just want us to be together." she stated.

"I just want to make you happy." Will muttered.

She smiled and went over to him, playing with a few loose curls that hung around his forehead.

"You do. You make me very happy, you don't need to go out of your way. Just seeing you and being with you is enough for me." she stated.

Will smiled, taking her hand and placing a light kiss to her wrist.

"Will, if you have any hesitations about us then I need to know." Elizabeth whispered.

He grabbed her quite suddenly, pressing a quick kiss to her lips and shook his head.

"I don't have any hesitations about you, I promise."

"So, shall we agree that sex will happen when it happens? Don't plan it because it will ruin the romance of it all. If we go too far out of our comfort zones when we are together like that then we tell each other?" Lizzy suggested.

"Agreed." he muttered against her lips.

ooOoo

Once they were downstairs after changing out of the wet clothes, they saw Jane and Charles sat in the living room; with Rose laying across Charles's lap quite awkwardly.

"Thanks for taking her out, do you want me to take her?" Elizabeth offered.

Charles shook his head, "Good practice." her future brother-in-law replied.

Elizabeth immediately looked at Jane, she hadn't known that the two of them would be wanting a child so soon.

"Lizzy, there is something I need to talk to you about." Jane said quietly.

As Elizabeth and Will sat down, Jane and Charles started to grin from ear to ear.

"What is it?" Elizabeth asked.

"My hen night, what did you have planned?" Jane asked.

"Well you didn't want anything over the top and you banned clubbing so I booked a table one of the restaurants in Watford and then a booth at a few wine bars, there's a live band at one of them-"

"A boozy night will be off the cards for me." Jane replied.

Elizabeth's eyes widened and she hugged her sister tightly.

"Jane, you're pregnant?!" Lizzy squealed excitedly.

She felt her sister nod and then the two burst out laughing.

"Not that far along, we haven't had our twelve week scan booked yet but yes. I'm about six to eight weeks but I wanted to tell you and Will before I get quizzed as to why I wasn't drinking on my own hen night." Jane replied.

As the two sisters released each other, Will and Charles shook hands as Rose continued to sleep peacefully.

"Can we change the plans for my hen night?" Jane asked.

Elizabeth nodded, "Of course, we can just do a girl's night in here if you'd prefer or we can do it at home."

"Thanks Lizzy, sorry to be a pain."

Elizabeth patted her sister on the arm, it wasn't a pain at all to change the plans for her sister's hen night. Having had a child herself, she knew how happy Jane and Charles would be when it was their turn to deliver a new life into the world. She knew that despite the sleepless nights, temper tantrums, illnesses, the stress that came with raising a child, there would be the good times too and she knew that her sister and brother-in-law would cherish every moment of it; just as she had and was continuing to do so.

"It's not a pain, trust me. It's your night at the end of the day so you get a say in what you want." Elizabeth replied.

"Try not to listen to the disappointment to come from my sister though." Charles added.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, of course Caroline would probably not be happy about the change in plans.

"Well not everything is about your sister." Jane said, "She's going to have to learn that now or she'll be uninvited to the wedding. Especially after the way she's been since she moved out."

"What's happened?" Lizzy asked.

"Carrie wasn't pleased when I asked her to move out. I get that Netherfield is her childhood home but she can't stay here forever as me and Jane own the estate and we want a family pretty quickly. She made a lot of nasty comments about Jane only being with me for the money which isn't the case and Jane overheard." Charles explained.

"I'm sorry Charlie, I know she's your sister but she's vile!" Elizabeth said bitterly.

Charles shrugged, "She might be my sister but Carrie can get too carried away with her thoughts and opinions. I told her that she was being a petty little child and that she shouldn't talk about my fiancé like that and then Jane told her that she should be grateful that we're paying the rent on her new house instead of slagging us off." he said.

Elizabeth felt a surge of pride for her older sister. Jane usually tried to keep the peace and tried to see both sides of the story so to hear that Jane had actually told Caroline Bingley off for that horrible tongue of hers was something she felt happy about.

"Caroline is like a child who doesn't know how to share her toys. If it isn't the way she likes it then she'll sulk and throw a strop." Will muttered.

"She's been after you for years." Charles stated.

"And I told her last night that she'll never have me. I'm only interested in one person and having everything with Elizabeth." Will replied.

She squeezed his hand and smiled at him, feeling a little like jelly on the inside. The conversation soon changed to Wickham staying at Longbourn and the measures that Mr Bennet had taken to get Wickham to go. Jane breathed a sigh of relief after Charles and Will shared the story of what had happened at boarding school, all the while Rose continued to sleep.

"At least that man will be gone," Jane said quietly, "I imagine Lydi will be disappointed but it's for their safety."

"Wickham will spin his lies no matter where he goes." Will pointed out.

As Jane and Charles moved on to another topic of conversation, Lizzy asked Will to head outside the living room. He followed her quietly, until they were out of earshot.

"There's something I should tell you." Elizabeth said quietly.

"What is it?"

"Wickham asked to take me out this morning."

Will stared at her before scoffing in disbelief.

"He asked you out?"

Elizabeth nodded, "I turned him down and nothing else was said but..I don't know...I thought you should know." she muttered.

"Well if nothing else happened then let's just hope that tomorrow Wickham will leave Longbourn and go on his way to wherever it is he's going." Will said calmly.

His reaction surprised her, especially with how angry he had been when her father had told them of what was going to happen. But, not wanting to have an argument or disagreement, she decided to let the matter go. Giving him a brief kiss, they went back in the living room to join Charles and Jane.

ooOoo

Monday morning came too quickly for George's liking. He had hoped that he could take Lydia up on offer that she had made to him on Sunday afternoon but his hopes had been scuppered. Thanks to his little brother, Bennet Sr. had found out about his past and made his daughters go and stay with friends but the wife had been kind enough to persuade the husband to allow him one more nights stay.

So now he was walking through Meryton that he had been shown by Lydia the day before, looking down at the piece of paper that held the one address that he needed and had gotten from Eleanor. His two 'employers' were going to be very disappointed that he had so far failed in his task.

He wondered whether Darcy had told Elizabeth about their boarding school days yet and wondered what her reaction would be. There was no chance now that he would be able to get Elizabeth on her own under the pretence that he wasn't what Darcy would paint him as. If he ever got the chance to get near Elizabeth Bennet again he would have to come up with a different plan in order to succeed to Eleanor's demands.

As Wickham turned a corner into a close of semi-detached houses, he crossed the road came to the one he had been looking at on the piece of paper. He knocked on the door three times and waited.

When the front door opened, he was greeted by two women who didn't look impressed to see him. George simply grinned in greeting and made his way into the house, dumping his suitcases on the floor.

"Wickham, you're supposed to be at Longbourn." Caroline Bingley hissed.

"Relax darling. It's not my fault. I bought a buggered car and got it into the local garage, I got the Bennets to agree to house me for the duration that the car needed fixing. It's not my fault that my little brother decided to blab to the father about my past. That and Darcy saw me so Elizabeth probably knows about my boarding school days." Wickham replied, making himself at home on the sofa.

"We had an agreement! You were supposed to charm Elizabeth away from Fitzwilliam so that I could get him back!" Eleanor shouted angrily.

George looked at her and shrugged, "I think it's about time we came up with a plan B then, don't you?" he asked.


	17. Chapter 17

Alice Reynolds sat outside the doctor's office with Reginald, waiting for the results of the several scans and x-rays that her employer had been told to have done. She didn't know what the doctor's were going to say but she knew that the outcome was going to be serious.

Life at Pemberley had grown darker and harder ever since Fitzwilliam had left. She could understand the young man's reasons and didn't blame him for it, his father had become a different man when Anne Darcy had died. But Reginald had always had trouble facing his demons when it came to drinking a lot of alcohol in one go. Lately, the alcohol consumption had tripled and she often found her employer laying face down on his desk in the study that she often had to get three of the staff members to carry him to his bed. Then there was the fact that Reginald wasn't consuming enough food, often only having a little bite of toast for the entire day, the fatigue, sudden weight loss that his skin was starting to look like it had been sewn across his face he was getting that thin. Not to mention the yellowing of his skin and eyes.

But this morning, during one of his drinking moments, Reginald had taken a tumble down the main stairs and had caused severe bruising to his ribcage. After helping him to his feet and checking him over, Alice had found the bruising and managed to convince him to get into the car to go to the A&E department. They had waited a few hours before being seen and then referred to a ward where she waited whilst Reginald went down to the x-ray department and then for some scans. Now the two of them sat in the corridor, having been discharged from the ward, with the occasional muttering from Reginald on how he was desperate to get home for another drink.

Finally the door to the office opened and the two of them were summoned inside. It was pretty much how she expected the office to look. There was an examination bed in the far corner with a curtain to surround it, a sink opposite the bed with bins underneath to dispose of waste, some cupboards and then finally the desk with a chair for the doctor and two on the other side for patients. She and Reginald took to the empty seats, waiting patiently for the doctor to tell them the outcome of Reginald's tests.

"Mr. Darcy, we have the results back from your x-rays and scans. Whilst we're pleased to say that you don't have any broken ribs from your fall down the stairs, the scans did pick up something else." the doctor began.

"Well, come out with it then. What's so terrible about me falling down the stairs?" Reginald said impatiently.

"The scans that we took of your liver showed severe scar tissue replacing healthy tissue. After speaking with some consultants who specialise in the liver, I can confirm that you have cirrhosis of the liver."

There was a slight pause before Reginald asked the doctor what it meant for his overall health.

"Because your companion here has confirmed that you have been drinking rather heavily recently, I would strongly urge you to quit drinking alcohol because of the amount of abuse it has caused to your liver. I can give you some leaflets and put you in touch with a local support group to help you with this. You'll also be placed on the transplant list..."

Alice looked at Reginald, he didn't seem to be listening to the doctor tell him more about the condition that he had been diagnosed with. She was worried as he remained expressionless, was he simply in shock from the news?

They left the hospital a little while later, with several leaflets and contact information for alcoholic support groups and with a promise from the doctor that they would be receiving a letter soon with an appointment with a liver specialist. The drive back to Pemberley was a silent one, Reginald didn't speak a word or even flick through the leaflets; he simply stared out of the window.

Alice thought that the news was so devastating to her boss, to be told that the drinking over the past thirty years or so was taking its toll and that this Christmas might be the last one he would ever share with family unless he got his life together was horrible. Shecould only hope that Reginald would listen to the doctor's advice.

But her hopes were dashed when they went back into the house. The minute that their coats were off and they were in the entrance hall, Reginald opened the door to the study and went straight to the desk drawer; where he pulled out an unopened bottle of whiskey. Having followed him, Alice found herself shaking her head in disbelief.

She could only imagine how hard it must be to run a large estate such as Pemberley, on top of the estate agent business the Darcy family owned, dealing with the tenants that they rented properties to. That was just the business side of Reginald's life, she knew that he had been through the living with an alcoholic father and then the loss of his wife. But Alice had been there the last time he had been heavily drinking.

It was during the time when Fitzwilliam was thirteen and Georgiana was four. Their mother had just died after suffering a long battle with cancer. Reginald had shut himself off from everyone, leaving the care of his children to her whilst he drunk himself stupid in his locked study. It was only when Georgiana had cut herself so badly on the broken glass the cleaners had forgotten to clean up which resulted in the four year old being taken to the A&E department at the local hospital that Reginald realised that he may have lost his wife but his children had lost their mother and so the drinking died down to drinking in moderation.

But now, he was nothing like the man she had once known. The Reginald Darcy she had known before and worked for as his housekeeper was a proud man who had dreams and goals that he wanted his two children to achieve. He had this idea of what a Darcy should be and do and now that man had faded. The man that stood before her now, unscrewing the cap of a whiskey bottle and placing it straight to his lips and taking a large mouthful, was a man who had lost everything. His scheming ways that she had never seen before until recently had cost him dearly.

"Reginald, put the bottle down." Alice pleaded.

He looked at her coldly before laughing and taking another large mouthful.

"Just what I need after receiving some shit news!" Reginald boasted.

"This isn't the answer. This isn't what you're supposed to do!" Alice scolded him in a harsh tone.

Reginald cackled, "What am I supposed to do Alice?! My liver is fucked beyond repair that I need a transplant!"

"I've kept your habit a secret for long enough! It's time to make amends for your actions and put things right. You need to sit down with Fitzwilliam and make things right before he finds out that you've died from this condition of your own making-"

"Alice, don't you see? I'm doing my children a favour! My dreams and goals for them are ruined! Fitzwilliam wants to play happy families with a bastard child. My thoughts about what I could do to interfere with those plans are up in smoke so let him get on with it! Georgiana won't even return my phone calls because her precious brother got her involved with our disagreement. So what's the point in taking some doctor's advice when my children will be better off when I'm dead!" Reginald snapped.

"And do you think that they'd forgive you? Or me for that matter? That I've kept them in the dark over your secret battle with alcohol for the last twelve years? You need to tell them about this Reginald, the three of you need to come together as a family and make things right before it's too late." Alice pleaded.

"Perhaps this is the one good thing I could right as a father." he muttered.

"Drinking yourself to death is your definition of doing a good thing as a father?!" Alice asked in disgust.

Reginald turned his back on her and nodded, "That way...they wouldn't have me interfering in their lives...that is what they want so I'm giving it to them!" he replied.

"But-"

"Get out Alice and leave me be."

Knowing that she could say nothing to convince him to buck up his ideas, Alice left the study and closed the door behind her. Having kept his secret once from Fitzwilliam and Georgiana because they had been young children the last time their father had been in this state, she knew that they were old enough to know the truth. The last time, they needed protecting and shielding from their father's struggle but now they were old enough to understand and old enough to know. And as she came to the conclusion that it was a needs must, she found herself talking to Norman, the Pemberley steward.

"How is the boss?" Norman asked, once the two of them were alone in the living room.

"He's refusing to take on the doctor's advice and he's probably going to drink himself to sleep in the study tonight. I need you to do me a favour." Alice replied.

"A favour?"

She nodded, "I need you, once Reginald is passed out, to change the locks on the study door and lock him inside. He's only got a certain amount of alcohol kept in there." Alice said quietly.

Norman's eyes widened, "But we can't, he'd sack us all-"

"Norman please! We've worked here long enough to know that he relies on us. I've never seen him like this, it's like he's a different person since Anne died; with the scheming ways and heavy expectations he has for the children. I'm going to help him, the hardest I can and that means making him go cold turkey. Lock him in and once his supply has run out, he might listen to reason. He's dependant on that damned whiskey right now and it needs to stop. If you won't do it for me and our forty years of friendship, do it for Fitzwilliam and Georgiana. They've already lost one parent, I don't want them to lose another just yet." Alice pleaded.

Norman sighed as he met her pleading and desperate gaze and eventually nodded his consent to help her. Alice smiled gratefully and left the living room. With Norman on her side to help try and get their boss to make better choices and change his ways, she went to her room to rest after a long day.

ooOoo

It was nearly the end of the week and he still had a lot of things to sort out. Firstly, he was trying to decide between two properties that he had viewed with the intention of buying in Meryton but he couldn't decide which one he liked better. Both were two bedroom houses with a driveway, a garage and a back garden that Rose could play in. However, one came with an en-suite bathroom and a regular bathroom but the other the previous owners had paid out to have the kitchen redone three years ago to include underfloor heating and built in dishwasher, fridge freezer and oven units with black marble counter tops and an island in the centre of the kitchen where the food prep could be done or for the family to eat at during meal times.

Aside from trying to choose a new house to buy, William knew that he had to call Georgiana at some point to arrange their plans for when she broke up from school for the Christmas holidays. Will had no idea whether his little sister was on speaking terms with their father yet because whenever he did speak to his sister on the phone, they had agreed that the subject of their father's deceptions and schemes were a non speakable subject. On that note, he was rather surprised that in the weeks it had been since he had left Pemberley and turned his back on his dad, his father hadn't made one attempt to contact him and as far as he was aware, nobody was watching him when he was with Elizabeth or Rose.

Then there was his duties as the best man for the Bingley-Bennet wedding that would be taking place in just over two weeks time. Although Jane and Charles had pretty much had everything in place, Charles had asked him to oversee the decoration and set-up at Netherfield for the wedding reception. He also had to find the time to write his best man's speech, go to his suit fitting as well as finding the time to go Christmas shopping.

Charles had also asked him to stay and oversee the management of Netherfield whilst he and Jane were on their honeymoon for the majority of January and he had agreed. Running an estate was no strange task for him, he had often seen the daily management of Pemberley in the past when his father had been away. But it was the so much he had to do in the little amount of time left before the wedding and Christmas day that he was worried about. Despite the fact he had a girlfriend and child and they were going to be spending their first Christmas together as a family, Will had no clue as to what he was going to gift them with and when he thought about asking Lizzy what she would like, he mentally shut the idea down when he knew what her reply would be, something along the lines of _'You don't have to get me anything!'_ and the thought made him laugh and curse at the same time.

On a Thursday night he was on his way over to Longbourn to spend the evening with Elizabeth. Her parents, Lydia, Mary, Kitty and Denny had been invited to function at one of the pubs in Meryton and were going to be out for most of the night. Lizzy had suggested that he come over, Rose would be asleep and she could make him some dinner and then watch a movie. She had also hinted that he could stay over if he wanted to, trying to make it sound like it wasn't a big deal; stating that Kitty had a boyfriend staying over presently. When she had stayed overnight at Netherfield the weekend before nothing too physical had happened, they had woken up in each other's arms on Monday morning, kissed heavily and groped a bit but a knock on the door from Rose had put a stop to it going any further. So when Lizzy had made the suggestion, he found himself feeling a little nervous. He had been told that Rose sometimes liked to sleep on the empty side of Lizzy's bed during the middle of the night, would his daughter freak out if he was taking up the empty side? Was Lizzy's suggestion her way of saying that she wanted something more to happen? So he'd packed an overnight bag just in case, containing a change of clothes and his toothbrush in the back seat of his car.

Will knocked on the front door and only waited two seconds before Lizzy had opened the door and pulled him inside, her lips pressing to his in a rather enthusiastic greeting. He smiled against her lips before she loosened her hold on his coat and pulled away, blushing slightly that she had acted that way.

"Hello." he whispered.

Elizabeth smiled, "Rose is in bed and already fast asleep, dinner is in the oven. Go through to the living room whilst I get us some wine to drink." she replied.

Will nodded, kissing her forehead lightly before watching her walk away to the kitchen. Just as he moved into the Bennet family living room, his mobile phone began to ring.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Fitzwilliam, it's Alice Reynolds." the voice replied.

"Mrs R? How are you?"

"Not that good I'm afraid. Fitzwilliam, ever since you left it hasn't been the same at Pemberley."

"How so?"

"It's your father, I'm really concerned about him. I don't really want to get into it all over the phone, would you come home so that we can talk face to face?" Alice asked.

"Alice, I have no intention of returning to Pemberley any time soon and I'm sorry if my father has put you up to this. But please, don't call me again if this is about me and my father reconciling, he's the one at fault and he's the one who needs to think about what's he done." Will said sternly.

"Fitzwilliam, you don't understand-"

"Mrs Reynolds, I'm sorry. I really am but don't contact me again regarding the situation between me and my father, I won't have him using more people to get to me. Get out while you can." William stated.

The phone hung up on the other end as he put his mobile on the coffee table. He rubbed his temple just as Elizabeth came into the room holding a chilled bottle of wine and two empty wine glasses.

"Everything okay?" she asked.

He looked up at her, sighing heavily and shrugging. Elizabeth sat down next to him, placing the glasses and the wine bottle on the table and took hold of his hands. Will met the concerned look in her green eyes, deciding to put the thoughts of his father trying to come between them at the back of his mind.

"I just had a phone call from the Pemberley housekeeper, Mrs Reynolds." Will muttered.

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

"I think my father asked her to call me because he wants to try and come between us by asking me to come home to discuss everything. I have no intention of returning to Pemberley to talk about what he's done, if he wants to make amends then he needs to accept that you, me and Rose are becoming the family that we should have been four years ago. He needs to apologise to you and make it up to you and to Rose." Will stated.

Elizabeth squeezed his hands gently, "He can't touch us, he can try as much as he likes. But I will protect Rose from him and his scheming ways." she replied.

"I know, I want to protect both of you from more hurt from his hand."

"Whatever happens, promise me that we'll face any problem together." Elizabeth whispered.

"I promise."

Will smiled as he pulled back to observe her, liking that she had curled her hair; she suited curly hair. The dress she wore was a dark red, in the style of a tunic with three-quarter length sleeves and a v neckline that she had worn over a black pair of leggings whilst her feet remained bare.

"You look lovely, I like it when you curl your hair and wear it down." Will whispered, shifting closer to her to run his hands into her hair.

"Thanks, although I sometimes envy Rose with her natural curls." Elizabeth replied.

"She certainly inherited something good from me then?" William teased.

"Mhmmm." Elizabeth agreed.

Just as he leaned forward to kiss her, the oven timer beeped loudly from the kitchen and Elizabeth rolled her eyes.

"Head through to the dining room whilst I serve up, can you take the wine with you?" Elizabeth asked.

Will nodded and the two rose from their seats, with Elizabeth heading through to the kitchen as he picked up the bottle of wine and both their glasses and went through to the dining room.

ooOoo

For dinner she had made a shepherd's pie from scratch. Not the most romantic meal, she knew, but she wanted to do something a little differently. So they ate in the dining room, talking about how their weeks had gone so far and the upcoming stag and hen nights that were due to happen on Saturday night. Charles's stag night would be a night out at a few pubs and a casino visit whilst the girls would be gathering for a night in at Longbourn with a takeaway and a few game suggestions that Lizzy had found on the internet.

After they had eaten and he had complimented and thanked her for the meal, they moved back into the living room to talk some more, with William bringing up the subject of Christmas shopping.

"Can we go out on Saturday to Watford or something? I need to get some ideas on what to get for you and Rose for Christmas, as well as a few little gifts for family." Will said.

"You don't need to get me anything but I can give you ideas for Rose." Elizabeth replied.

"I'm getting you something, end of argument." he grinned.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, deciding to not insist that he didn't need to buy her a gift. But talking of Christmas gifts, she leaned over and pulled out a large brown envelope from the bottom of the coffee table and handed it to him.

"Early Christmas present." she stated.

William looked confused as he opened the envelope and pulled out what looked like paperwork, in thick black letters: STATUTORY DECLARATION OF ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF PARENTAGE. After several minutes of silence, he met her gaze and still looked confused.

"What's this?" he asked.

"It's a form that I need you to fill out to state that you're Rose's natural father and then we'll go down to the registry office in Meryton where I registered Rose's birth. When we're there, we're going to re-register her birth and add your name to her birth certificate." Elizabeth replied warmly.

He looked surprised at her gesture as he set aside the paperwork and cupped her face.

"Are you serious?"

Elizabeth nodded, "You've been a constant in her life since we met again, I've been thinking about this for a little while and doing this gives you equal, legal rights with me as her father. If anything happened to me, I know that you'd look after Rose and she loves you. The only thing I can't change on her birth certificate is her surname unless we got married we can change it so that it states she was previously known as Rose Bennet." she explained.

"You'd really do this, for me?" William asked.

Again she nodded, "I love you, Will. This is my way of showing you, despite already saying so, that I want us to be a family. I want Rose to have her dad's name on her birth certificate, I want you to have legal rights to her." Elizabeth replied.

Will's eyes seemed to light up as he kissed her on the cheek.

"I love you too." he said.

Their lips met rather quickly, eyes closed shut and hands were cupping faces, wrapping around necks, backs or caressing into the other's hair. Elizabeth moved her teeth to bit on his lower lip, causing him to groan into her mouth as their tongues met in a crazy frenzy. Will's hands unhooked her bra through the material of her dress, slowly coming round to the front of her body to cup them in his hands whilst her own had pulled his shirt from where it was tucked into his jeans and began to undo the buttons frantically, desperate to feel his warm skin under her hands.

When she had finally undone the last button, she ran her hands over his chest, loving the feel of warmth of his body at her touch to the light patch of chest hair that tickled her fingers. His own hands had now crept under her dress, pulling away the bra as best they could to cup her bare breasts in his hands. They fell back so she was laying down with him hovering over her, continuing the hungry pace of the kiss that the two of them had set.

Their hips welded together, grinding in a pleasurable and torturous pace as Will moved his hands from her breasts to her hips; gripping lightly as he growled throatily into her mouth. Elizabeth broke the kiss, taking a breath as he looked down at her, his eyes glazed over with desire.

"Stay the night." she whispered.

Will nodded, getting off her slowly before pulling her to her feet. She took the lead and his hand, switching off the living room light as they made their way quietly up the stairs to her bedroom.

* * *

A/N: So there you have it. Reginald is slowly killing himself because he feels that he has nothing left to lose, do you agree with his beliefs? It's been a couple of chapters since I mentioned what's been going on at Pemberley so I thought this chapter would be the time to keep the plot with Reg Darcy going instead of going on about Caroline and Eleanor all the time.

No Eleanor and Caroline or Wickham this time so I hope that you all liked that about this chapter. What are your thoughts on E & D? I had to do a bit of research into Lizzy's gesture because I've never had to do this myself, to see whether it was possible because one friend of mine said it was and one said it wasn't but going from official UK government websites, the birth of a child can be re-registered to add on the father's name if it wasn't at the beginning as long as he is present with the mother and signs the form mentioned in the chapter.

The next update I'm hoping to have completed and posted on 31st March.


	18. Chapter 18

Will wasn't sure how long he had slept but what he did know was that he was foolish for being nervous over spending the night with Lizzy. She had shown him her desire for him to stay, had whispered those words to him, had told him she loved him and then had led him quietly up the stairs to her bedroom. When they had stepped into her bedroom with the door locked behind them, she had switched off the main light and turned on a lamp before proceeding to kiss him heatedly.

He remembered lifting her up and placing her down on the bed, hovering over her as he pulled the dress off over her head and her bra followed suit as Elizabeth's own hands had worked on getting his jeans off. Their kisses grew more urgent, their touches more bold until eventually they were both pressed together completely naked. The warmth radiated from her own body into his as her hands stroked him to full hardness, he had forgotten how pleasurable her touch was. His lips went to her neck, her breasts as he in turn touched her intimately, making her gasp with pleasure and buck her hips into his own until it got to a torturous point where they couldn't wait any longer. Having thought that she might be nervous because there hadn't been anybody else since their separation, Will found himself being proven wrong when she sat up and pulled a condom out of her bedside table and slipped it on him before guiding him into her. Their love making lasted quite long, both moving together slowly, whispering each other's names, positions changing until they had ended up sat up in the middle of the bed, with Elizabeth in his lap and his arms holding her securely to him as he continued to move in and out of her until she came, with himself following seconds later.

Afterwards they had collapsed, both sweaty and trying to catch their breath. Elizabeth had assured him that she couldn't have imagined a better way to spend an evening and then with a 'I love you' whispered to him and his same reply, they had drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

As he lay with her in his arms, her left leg sprawled over his and her head on his chest, Elizabeth continued to sleep peacefully. He watched her slow breathing and smiled to himself. How could he have gone four years without her? How was he supposed to drop her off at work in a few hours and then have to go the entire day without being able to kiss or touch her. Shortly after thoughts of their future passed, Will came to the conclusion that he was utterly ruined and in love with Elizabeth Bennet.

His thoughts were interrupted when there was a knock on the door and the turning of the door handle but the door had remained locked since he and Lizzy had come upstairs. Will sat up slightly, rubbing his eyes and got out of bed to pull on his boxers before he unlocked the door and opened it quietly; to see Rose looking up at him.

"What's up Rosie?" Will asked, kneeling down to her height level.

Rose rubbed her eyes, "Bad dream." his daughter replied.

Will held out his arms and Rose instantly went to him and wrapped her own small arms around his neck as he stood up, taking Rose back to her room quietly and placing her in her bed.

"What did you dream about?" Will asked.

"That man. The one Aunty Lydia likes." Rose replied.

Will felt himself freeze for a few seconds. Wickham had only been in Rose's presence for a day and then he was gone, Mr Bennet had seen to that and he had taken Rose and Lizzy to Netherfield but it was proving that only one day was enough for the scumbag to have a scarring effect on his little girl.

"Well he's gone now and he won't ever come back." Will said assuringly.

Rose frowned, "But I saw him. Yesterday with Aunty Lydia."

"When?"

"Aunty Lydia came home and kissed the man goodbye, like you kiss mummy."

Will felt his blood pressure rise and his heart beat faster in anger. He was sure that Wickham would have gone on his way, or at least he had hoped the man would. Why would Wickham stick around Meryton? His brother had been the one to tell the Bennet family of his past and Elizabeth had soundly rejected him, what were his intentions on the youngest Bennet?

"Why didn't you tell grandad?" Will asked.

Rose's eyes welled up in tears, "Aunty Lydia said if I told, people would take me away!" she cried.

Never before had he seen his daughter cry and watching her sob broke his heart. It was evident that from what Rose had told him, his little girl was scared of being taken away if she did something that wasn't even punishable. Will instantly pulled her into his arms and soothed her, calming her down until the tears stopped flowing and the sobbing sounds ceased to sniffing.

"Rosie, I'll talk to mummy and we'll talk to grandad. Nobody will take you away, we love you very much." Will whispered.

But the little girl didn't look too convinced.

"Aunty Lydia-"

"Is the naughty one. You've done nothing wrong! I promise." Will replied.

"I don't wanna leave you or mummy!"

"You won't," Will promised, tucking a curl behind Rose's ear, "Mummy and Daddy love you and nobody will _ever_ take you away from us. Okay?"

After a few minutes of silent hesitation, Rose nodded and hugged him tightly. Will couldn't believe that a sixteen-nearly-seventeen year old girl would threaten his daughter the way Lydia had threatened Rose. Clearly Lydia wanted to keep whatever relationship she had with Wickham a secret and had resorted to threatening a three-and-a-half year old in order to keep that relationship from being exposed. But all of that was about to change, he was going to have to deal with Wickham once and for all in order to keep the Bennet girls safe from the man who had raped his cousin.

ooOoo

Breakfast that morning was hardly a pleasant affair in the Bennet household. Elizabeth had been woken up by her boyfriend to be told what their daughter had told him and after Will was finished relaying the story of what Rose had told him, she had never felt that angry before in her life. She had pulled on some clothes and marched straight downstairs, threatening to kill her little sister.

"Oh Lizzy! Can we not just have a non dramatic meal for once? You're always unhappy about something!" Mrs Bennet complained.

"LYDIA! what right do you have to threaten my child? Your niece?" Elizabeth demanded.

As expected, Lydia feigned ignorance.

"What are you talking about? Is Rose going wild with that imagination of hers?"

"You know damn well what I'm talking about. You're seeing Denny's brother despite him being thrown out of our house because he's a rapist and you were seen by Rose." Elizabeth snapped.

Lydia raised an eyebrow, "All children lie, Lizzy. You're a teacher! you should know that by now!"

"The difference is Lydia is that Rose wouldn't lie to me or Will, I taught her better. You on the other hand, have always been a sneaky little bitch who wants to get her own way and threatening my daughter because she saw you with Denny's brother is definitely something you would do!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" came a deep shout.

Silence fell in the dining room, everyone turning their attention to the door to see a very angry looking Mr Bennet stood there.

"I've spoken to Rose and she's told me what happened. Lydia, this is your chance to be honest with me and tell me the truth: have you been seeing this man, despite me kicking him out of my house for his lies?" Mr Bennet said in a sharp tone.

Elizabeth looked between her father and youngest sister and to her surprise, Lydia instantly looked down at her bowl of cereal and nodded. It wasn't usually like Lydia to admit to something that she had done wrong. Mr Bennet's jaw tightened, his green eyes flashing with anger and disappointment.

"From this moment, you're grounded. You deliberately disobeyed me." Mr Bennet hissed.

"But-"

"No 'buts' Lydia. You objected to me kicking that man out of my house and I told you it was for your own safety and you're stupidly putting that safety in harms way. Until you can prove to me that you're mature enough to have privileges and freedom, you will be going to and from sixth form with me, no money, no hanging out with your friends. And whilst you're at it, you need to apologise to Lizzy and to Rose-"

"That's not fair!" Lydia protested, "You ALWAYS side with Lizzy on everything!"

"You threatened your niece." Mr Bennet replied.

"So I threatened to keep the little brat quiet! Big deal!" Lydia snapped.

Lizzy felt herself being restrained from slapping Lydia across the face by Will. Never before, in her entire life, had she desperately wanted to hit her own sister than she did right now.

"If you think an apology is going to make up for the vile thing she's done, you're mistaken dad." Lizzy said through gritted teeth.

"What else do you want me to do Elizabeth?" Mr Bennet asked.

Lizzy scoffed, "An apology means nothing to Lydia. I can't take living under the same roof as a selfish little cow any more."

"What are you saying?" Mrs Bennet asked, panic present in her voice.

"What I'm saying, mother, is if Lydia refuses to buck up her ideas and make good choices and start treating my daughter better, then I'm leaving. I'll take Rose and get my own place. In the meantime, I'll go and stay with Charlotte if I have to." Lizzy replied bitterly.

Mrs Bennet started to have a panic attack whilst Kitty ran to the kitchen to get a paper bag and Mary instantly moved to try and calm their mother down. Elizabeth left the dining room, heading straight upstairs to her bedroom.

"What are you doing?" Will asked, shutting the door behind him.

Elizabeth started throwing some clothes into a suitcase before getting out her mobile and phoning the school to say that she wouldn't be at work that day, that she was unwell and then looked at her boyfriend, still feeling furious with the mornings events.

"I'm packing my stuff and then Rose's and we're going. I can't stay here if that little bitch is going to intimidate our daughter. Lydia is very lucky that I didn't throttle her!" Elizabeth replied angrily.

"Well you're not staying at Charlotte's. You'll stay with me." Will insisted.

She looked up at him, "But you're staying at Netherfield, you haven't even got your own place yet." Elizabeth pointed out.

"Charles and Jane won't mind if you stay for a few weeks, they won't see you out on the street. I'm torn between two places to buy, you and Rose can help me pick which house." Will replied softly.

"And then what?"

"Then we'll move in to the house I buy."

"Are you sure? It will only be for a little while until I can get some money together for my own place-"

Will chuckled lightly as he walked across the room and cupped her face.

"I think you've misunderstood me. Lizzy, what I meant to say was that when we move into the house I buy, I don't want you and Rose to leave. I want it to be ours. Just the three of us."

Her eyes widened, was he really suggesting what she thought he was suggesting?

"You want us to live together?!" she asked in a shocked whisper.

Will bit his lip as he nodded, "I've spent the majority of last night thinking it over. You mentioned that you were looking at getting your own place and I have every intention of sticking around here to be with you and Rose. We're putting my name on her birth certificate, we love each other and spent our first night together last night since we got back together."

"But we agreed to take this slowly-"

"I know but I can't help it. I love you. This is what I want."

"Will-"

"If my father hadn't interfered with our relationship, we would have been living together for a long period by now. We'd be married and may be having our second kid by now! At least promise me you'll think about it? We don't need to rush this decision but I want you to at least agree to think about what I've said." Will whispered.

She didn't know why she was shocked by his declaration and suggestion. It was true, she did love him; last night had proved that much but they had also agreed to take the relationship slowly. But then she knew that he had a point. If Reginald Darcy hadn't interfered and sent her away and schemed to keep her and Will apart for the last four years then they would be living their daily lives differently and it would probably be how Will had said he had imagined it.

"Okay, I'll think about it." she promised.

He gave her a small smile and kissed her forehead.

"Come on, get packed up and we'll drive over to Netherfield. We need to get away from the craziness that's been this morning."

Elizabeth smiled as he left the room to head down the hall to get Rose's belongings packed up. She knew he was right about one thing though, she did need to get away from the crazy morning at Longbourn.

ooOoo

"If you're going to be staying on my sofa for a while, the least you could do is help out with the household chores!" Caroline complained.

George yawned, but Eleanor could tell that it wasn't from tiredness. The man was sick of hearing Caroline complain about his lack of tidiness in the house. To be frank, she was tired of hearing her friend complain about it too.

"Relax darling, I do my own laundry don't I?" George replied lazily.

Caroline huffed and stormed out of the living room, slamming a door somewhere in the house behind her. Eleanor looked at Wickham and smiled.

"You should be more grateful, she's allowing you to stay in her house." Eleanor pointed out.

"And you're the one paying her rent so isn't it technically your house as well?" he asked.

Eleanor smirked, she certainly found George Wickham's humour fascinating from time to time.

"Have you heard any more from Lydia Bennet?" she asked.

Wickham nodded, turning down the volume on the TV before sitting up straight.

"It appears that Darcy's little brat told him that she saw the two of us yesterday. Apparently Elizabeth went ape shit and is moving out of the house. Only thing is, Darcy apparently said that the two of them were moving in together."

Eleanor felt furious, "He...he's moving in...with that woman?!" she asked.

George nodded, "Apparently so."

"Get her to find out more. I _need_ to know more."

"Oh love, you're getting desperate. Is Darcy really worth that much to you?" Wickham asked.

"He's my everything!" Eleanor insisted.

"Clearly your feelings are one-sided."

She glared at the man she had employed to distract Elizabeth Bennet and turned her attention back to the TV. Ever since Wickham had shown up on Caroline's doorstep needing a place to stay, they had been trying to think of ways to get Wickham back into Elizabeth's life. In the end, Wickham had suggested that he could start up a 'relationship' with the youngest Bennet girl and use Lydia for information to try and find a way to drive a wedge between Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth. They were yet to make Lydia invite Wickham as her plus one to the Bingley-Bennet wedding but it was only a matter of days before Wickham would get said invitation.

"Don't worry your pretty little head Eleanor, I can work on Lydia. You just have to make sure Caroline is willing to take you as her plus one to her brother's wedding." George said.

"She is taking me. Caroline is the only friend I have in this." Eleanor replied.

"That she is."

The wedding wasn't really the place she wanted to win Fitzwilliam round and they were yet to fully discuss what would happen once George received his invitation as Lydia's plus one, their plan b was still being formed with the three of them unable to think about how best to split Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam up. She had considered going to Reginald but according to the Pemberley staff, the old man had taken a bad turn in his health.

One thing she didn't understand was what was so special about Elizabeth Bennet. She had been the one to have a deep, committed relationship with Fitzwilliam, they had been on and off for years since they had first met at eighteen years of age. But she had always assumed Fitzwilliam was just one to be afraid of a long term commitment. It had taken him ages to ask her to move into Pemberley with him and whenever she and Reginald dropped hints about weddings and engagements he had shifted uncomfortably, as if he wasn't yet ready to take that step. So why was it that he had only been back with Elizabeth Bennet for five minutes and he was already moving her in with him?

 _It's the child. It's all for the child._

What else could it be? Elizabeth wasn't that special surely.

But as much as the news of Fitzwilliam asking Elizabeth to move in with him bothered her greatly, she put it to the back of her mind. She needed to think of a way to split the couple up at the Bingley-Bennet wedding and she was out of ideas. She needed to focus on the plan for the present instead of worrying about nothing that really mattered.

* * *

 **A/N:** Thank you for the reviews on the last chapter, I like reading your thoughts. Whilst this story is 'M' rated, it's not MA and whilst I've written M stories in other TV shows/Book genres, I'm not yet comfortable in writing a too detailed sexual encounter between E&D because their relationship and the original story which they were originally written in deserves a lot more than what I've written in the past. However, I will be posting an encounter soon between ODC which I want to spend a lot of time on writing instead of something that seems rushed.

Apologies that this chapter might not be my best work. I've been in hospital recently due to pregnancy complications as I'm now nearing the final few weeks before my due date as well as celebrating my sister's eighteenth birthday and Easter with my two kiddies on top of trying to finish two assignments for my uni course before I give birth, so it's been a little bit of a hectic time for me in regards to having spare time.

I'm hoping to have the next chapter posted within the next two weeks, possibly by the 11th April at the latest. For now, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter and thank you for continuing to stick with Autumn Changes :)


	19. Chapter 19

The last day of term was one that Lizzy always looked forward to. The kids at Meryton Primary didn't necessarily have to sit down and do their maths and English work and they didn't have to worry about scraping their knees in the school hall during P.E lessons because the last day of school before the two week Christmas break was the only time that the teachers were relaxed. Instead, the teachers would do Christmas based activities to make the normal maths and English work look boring and the afternoons once lunch time was over they would watch a movie or do arts and crafts. Lizzy, was sat in the staff room at school, laughing and chatting with her co-workers when a delivery man entered the room.

"I've got some flowers for an Elizabeth Bennet." the man announced.

Her female co-workers eyed up the flowers in envy or remarked at how sweet her boyfriend must be as she rose from her seat to sign for the bunch of roses. Only, when she saw a letter in someone else's handwriting hidden away in the middle of the roses, she knew that the flowers weren't a nice gesture from Will and it wasn't the first time that week that she had received a mysterious package.

On the Saturday after she had moved out of Longbourn, it had been Jane's hen night held at Netherfield. In the mid afternoon before the guests had arrived, one of the staff members had given her a box of chocolates stating that they had been dropped off with a note saying 'See you soon x'. Then on Tuesday as she went to get into her car after finishing work, she had found a box on her bonnet containing underwear that she wouldn't feel uncomfortable in, bought from Ann Summers. The last time was when she was about to take Rose to pre-school on Wednesday, just two days ago, to find a different member of staff handing her an envelope with a hotel booking confirmation for the twenty-third of December at a hotel in Watford. It was starting to creep her out. When she had spoken to Will about it, her boyfriend had seemed very concerned and said he would look into who was sending her these creepy gifts.

Elizabeth placed the flowers in the sink and took the letter out and opened it, eyes scanning the handwriting and feeling her heart beat faster in her chest with nerves as she came to the conclusion of who had been stalking her for the past week.

 _Dear Elizabeth,_

 _I have to say that when I first met you, I was enchanted by you. Your appearance is physically appealing to me in a lot of ways that I hope my gestures that I have gifted you over the past week have been well received. Everything has been paid for out of my own pocket and I don't have a lot as my darling little brother told you, so I hope that the money hasn't been wasted. Meet me at the hotel on the 23rd December, I expect to see you sprawled on the bed wearing the lovely underwear I bought you, I hope I got your measurements right ;)_

 _-GW_

There was something seriously wrong with that man. He had asked her out when he had stayed the night at Longbourn and she had told him no because she was deeply committed to Will and now he had revealed himself as the person who had been sending her creepy gifts? As well as still shagging her little sister? She certainly had no doubt about Lydia's sneakiness that despite being grounded, she knew her little sister would find a way to continue her 'relationship' with a rapist.

Elizabeth went over to her bag and pulled out her phone, leaving the staff room to have a conversation with her boyfriend; this wasn't something that she wanted her colleagues to overhear.

Will picked up almost instantly.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm not sure, I've just had a bunch of roses delivered to me at work. Only this time our suspicions have been confirmed, it's Wickham who has been sending me this stuff over the past week." Elizabeth replied.

There was a pause on Will's end of the phone.

"I want you to stay calm, stay at school. I've already picked Rose up and I'll explain what's going on to Charles and ask if he can watch Rose for a while. I'm going to settle this once and for all." Will said.

She couldn't fail to notice the icy tone of his voice, now she was worried that he was going to do something stupid.

"Will, please don't do anything that could get you into trouble." Lizzy pleaded.

"I won't, I don't intend to get arrested if that's what you mean."

"That and I don't particularly want my boyfriend to be battered and bruised either."

"I'm sure it won't come to that but I promise you, by the time you've finished work and I come to pick you up, Wickham will be out of our lives for good." Will replied.

Elizabeth bit her lip, not sure of whether she would be able to spend the next two and a half hours at work worrying about what Will planned to do about Wickham.

"Okay, but I want you to call the main office if something bad happens. That way, I'll have some piece of mind that I can leave work if it escalates badly."

Will sighed, "Okay, if it will make you feel better. I promise that if anything other than a chat happens with Wickham then I will call the main office at school to let you know. If not, I will text you to let you know that I'm okay." he promised.

Elizabeth smiled to herself, "Thank you. I've got to go back to work as lunch is nearly over. I love you."

"I love you too babe."

Hanging up the call, Elizabeth heard the bell ring that indicated the end of lunch break. She placed her phone back into her bag and headed out of the staff room to begin the afternoon with her class; hoping that William's confrontation with Wickham would go smoothly.

ooOoo

If William had learned anything new about Lydia in the recent days since Lizzy had moved out of Longbourn, it was that his girlfriend's little sister was eager to earn a bit of money. Having gone to the sixth form where Lydia attended, he waited outside the gates until he saw her crossing the car park to meet some friends. He had called her over and asked her to send Wickham a text message from his phone, asking him to meet her outside the sixth form buildings. At first, Lydia was a bit sceptical, accusing him of trying to get her into more trouble until he pulled out his wallet and gave her thirty pounds in cash to which the girl happily accepted. So with the text message sent, Lydia went back to meet her friends before heading off to her next class while Will waited in the car park to see if Wickham would show up.

The entire week he had his suspicions that Wickham was stalking his girlfriend, nobody else had given them both a reason to believe that they would be responsible for the 'gestures' that Lizzy had been sent. But now Wickham had confirmed that it was him who had booked the hotel room and bought the underwear so he needed to warn the man off and had spent the majority of the week finding out the names of people that Wickham had pissed off in London.

He didn't have to wait too long. About ten minutes after Lydia and her friends had gone back into the sixth form buildings, he saw Wickham walking across the car park; wearing an amused expression on his face as the two came face to face.

"I should have known that it wasn't Lydia who asked to meet me." Wickham laughed.

"You knew it wasn't her, don't pretend otherwise." William replied.

"She said she had borrowed a friend's phone in her little message. Her father took away her own. So, how much did you bribe her into luring me here?"

"We're not here to discuss your 'relationship' with Lydia Bennet, although she is part of the reason why I'm here."

Wickham raised an eyebrow, "Then why did you feel the need to speak to me?" the man asked innocently.

"You know why. You've been sending creepy gifts to my girlfriend to the point of stalking her for the past week when she turned you down. You knew that the two of us were in a relationship and you still decide to pursue someone who will never be interested in you. Why?" William stated.

"What can I say Darcy?" Wickham asked with a grin forming on his smug face, "That little girlfriend of yours is quite enticing. Can you blame me for wanting a taste?"

William couldn't hold on to his anger as he grabbed the front of Wickham's shirt and pushed him up against a car roughly, this had been the same attitude the man had had after Anne's rape ordeal. Clearly Wickham would never learn from the past.

"Now here's what is going to happen Wickham. You're going to tell me why you're in Meryton and you're going to tell me the entire truth behind why you're taking a disturbing interest in Elizabeth." William demanded.

Wickham laughed harshly, "You think I'm scared of you?" he asked.

"I think you're going to do exactly as I say because if you don't all I have to do is make one phone call to Julian Forster." William threatened.

Wickham's eyes widened, "You wouldn't dare?! Do you even know what you're doing if you call that man? He'd kill me!" he panicked.

William nodded, his eyes glaring into Wickham's. He knew exactly what he was getting himself into when he had found out what Wickham had been up to since their boarding school days.

"I know that you worked as Forster's little lap dog, beating up the wives of his 'customers' who didn't pay him back his money on time. I know you slept with Forster's wife Harriet and then ran off with thirty thousand pounds which you gambled away in those little run down pubs you often frequented in London. My private investigator is excellent at getting me the information that I need quite quickly and when it comes to you pursuing my girlfriend, I'm not afraid to play dirty in order to get rid of you." William replied darkly.

Still pinned up against the car, Wickham's smug attitude seemed to have disappeared with the threat of being tracked down by a man who would kill him. William hoped that Wickham would do the sensible thing and tell him everything as to why he was pursuing Elizabeth and then disappear, never to be heard from again.

"Fine. I'll tell you everything!" Wickham conceded.

William released his hold on Wickham and took a step backwards from the car, waiting for Wickham to begin his explanation. He listened to how Wickham had been approached by Eleanor, being offered money to seduce Elizabeth and break the two of them up so that Eleanor could come back into his life and get back together. He also spoke of how Caroline Bingley was involved in the plan, having been the one to find out his whereabouts and tell Eleanor about their past at boarding school, how Eleanor was paying rent to Caroline to live in the house at Meryton. How the three of them plotted to go to the Bingley-Bennet wedding in just over a week and try and split them up at the wedding.

"But how would Eleanor and Caroline succeed at that? You realise that Thomas Bennet would have you thrown out of Netherfield because he doesn't want you anywhere near his daughters?" William asked.

Wickham shrugged, "They couldn't come up with a solution, they're still trying to work it out. Caroline even suggested that they could try and make your little brat disappear and send you both into a panic but Eleanor didn't see how that would work unless one of you were responsible for watching her and then you would blame the other for the girl disappearing. Then they would hope that the two of you would split up and then Eleanor would console you and seduce you back into her arms." he replied.

"What else is there?" William asked.

"Nothing. That's everything, I swear. I've kept my side of the bargain Darcy, I've told you everything that I know. So can I go on my way knowing that you won't make a phone call to Forster? I'd quite like to keep my life thanks." Wickham sneered.

"Go on your way. But I'm warning you Wickham, if I find out that you've contacted any of the Bennets or anybody else connected to me who I care about deeply, I will make that phone call and your life will be over." William threatened.

Wickham nodded his understanding and left the car park rather quickly. William decided to take a walk, it was nearly time for Elizabeth to finish work and he had to share with her what Wickham had told him.

ooOoo

Elizabeth sat in the living room at Netherfield, completely shocked as she tried to process what her boyfriend had just told her. She couldn't believe that Caroline was the one responsible in scheming with Eleanor to help the crazy blonde get William back and to think that they had suggested that they use Rose in order to split her and William up was something that made her upset and angry.

"Elizabeth? Talk to me." William said quietly.

"What do you want me to say?! If they so much as touch Rose I'll kill them both myself!" Elizabeth replied angrily.

"I know. I feel the same. But Wickham is gone for good and won't be bothering us again and we can deal with my ex-girlfriend and Charles's sister together."

"Why would Caroline help Eleanor win you back? That's what doesn't make sense to me. Caroline has a thing for you, everyone knows that and she obviously hates the fact that you're back together with me because she's planning on using our daughter to break us up!"

"Perhaps Caroline has her own agenda, I don't think Eleanor realises that Caroline has always harboured feelings for me."

"I just can't believe that they would even consider making our daughter disappear. I can't even go to my own sister's wedding now because I'm scared that something will happen to Rose." Elizabeth cried, placing her head in her hands.

Will moved instantly and wrapped an arm around her shoulder in order to comfort her. But she didn't want to be comforted at this moment. Right now, she wanted nothing more than to storm round to Caroline's house and have it out with the two crazy women and report them to the police for plotting to kidnap her daughter.

"No harm will come to Rose, I promise you." Will whispered.

"How can you promise me that? Caroline has made it clear that she'll stoop so low, she told Eleanor about that man and then used said man to get information from my little sister in order to find a way to drive a wedge between us. If you hadn't scared Wickham away, what are the chances that I would most likely have been raped at my own sister's wedding? Along with my child going missing?" Elizabeth snapped.

"I'm not happy about it either. I don't know what Caroline's motives are in trying to help Eleanor and in my ex-girlfriend's case, it's evident that she's desperate to have me back. But we can come up with a way to ensure that Rose is safe at the wedding."

"How can we ensure Rose is safe? Your father might have had his invitation revoked but Caroline is Charles's sister! There's no way that she'll be uninvited. Besides, I can't expect Jane or Charles to keep an eye on Rose when it's their wedding we're attending and we both have our duties as best man and maid of honour, along with my father with his speech during the reception! What do you suggest we do?" Elizabeth replied.

"I think we should feign ignorance for now whenever we are around Caroline but we should tell Jane and Charles that there will be some drama at the wedding." Will suggested.

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow, "Pretend that we don't know what she's up to?" she asked.

Will nodded, "Precisely. I think we should stage a 'break-up' on Boxing day, allow Eleanor and Caroline to attend the wedding reception and I'll head off for a private meeting with Eleanor. While Eleanor and I are alone I'll tell her that I don't love her and that I love you and tell her all about Caroline's attempt to seduce me a few weeks ago, she must not know that Caroline tried to otherwise she wouldn't ally herself with Caroline Bingley."

"And then what?"

"Then, Eleanor and Caroline will have it out with each other and it will blow up in their faces."

"Just like that?" Elizabeth asked.

"Well….it might not go as easily as that but Rose will be by my side or yours the entire course of the day so there won't be a chance for Eleanor or Caroline to bring Rose into this and by us staging a break-up days prior to the wedding, they won't need to use Rose in order to split us up." Will replied.

Elizabeth shifted uncomfortably. It wasn't something that you had to consider when your sister's wedding was in just over a week's time but Will had a valid point; by doing it his way, Rose would be kept safe.

"I don't like it." Elizabeth admitted.

Will sighed, stroking her hand reassuringly.

"Neither do I babe but I can't think of another way than to play them both at their own game."

After a few seconds of considering the pros and cons of the situation, she finally nodded her consent.

"Okay. We'll do it your way. But Rose stays with either of us the whole day and we tell Charles and Jane everything that's going on, I don't want to be responsible for their wedding being ruined." Elizabeth said.

"Agreed. And it won't be us to ruin it. It's all on Eleanor and Caroline and once their little showdown happens, I guarantee that both of them will be out of our lives for good." Will promised.

"And then what?"

"And then we start looking at bigger houses and start our future together, the future we should have had four years." Will whispered.

Elizabeth nodded her agreement and squeezed his hand, hoping and praying that the next few days would run as smoothly as they could and that both Caroline Bingley and Eleanor Clarence would stop meddling in their lives.

* * *

 **A/N:** As always, I'm loving your reviews on each chapter I post. I'm trying to keep each chapter posted on a regular basis and most of my uni work is now complete I just have one final essay to do. Now in this chapter, using one of you loyal readers nicknames here, two of the three witches from macbeth don't make an appearance, however they are mentioned and some of you may finish this chapter feeling a little angsty.

I can promise you now that **nothing** is going to happen to Rose. Will and Lizzy have decided to play the two bitches at their own game. But there's still plenty more to come in twists and turns so consider this a warning ahead. The next few chapters will be angst free, with Christmas being the next one and the return of Reginald in the one after that.

But on the plus side, Wickham is gone. What do you think to that?


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N:** I hope that you all enjoy this chapter as I don't know when I will be able to post the next one. I now have less than three weeks until my due date and having a newborn will be very exhausting on top of having two children already. However I have drafted out plans for the next five chapters with three of those being the events of the wedding ceremony and reception. But enjoy this chapter, E,D&R spending their first Christmas together as a family.

* * *

"Mummy! Daddy! Wake up! Snow!" Rose yelled excitedly.

Will opened his eyes and blinked until his blurred vision came into focus, his first look was at the alarm clock on his bedside table and he groaned. It was three in the morning and despite being warned by Lizzy that Rose would be waking them up at the earliest opportunity, he had been hoping that his daughter would at least sleep until five in the morning.

Rose pulled back one of the bedroom curtains as if to prove that it was snowing as Will sat up in the bed. As his vision came into focus, he saw the snow falling heavily outside his bedroom window; the white clear to see against the pitch black of the night.

"Rose, time to sleep." Will yawned.

His daughter pouted and moved from the window and climbed over a sleeping Elizabeth to lay herself in the middle of her parents. With another yawn, Will moved down to lay next to Rose, stroking the hair away from her eyes and wondering how on earth a three year old could be wide awake and alert at this time of the morning.

"Can I open presents yet?" Rose asked quietly.

"Not for a while yet. Remember, we have to sleep for a little longer so Santa can do his job and then when mummy wakes up, we can go downstairs and open our presents with Jane, Charlie and Georgie." Will whispered.

"But I'm not sleepy."

Will let out a loud yawn and smiled sleepily down at his daughter. He was still trying to get used to Rose getting up in the middle of the night and while he could understand that it was Christmas, it was something he was going to have to talk to Lizzy about.

"Close your eyes." Will whispered.

Rose did as she was told, closing her eyes as Will began to stroke the spot behind her ear slowly; remembering the times when he was about Rose's age and his mother used to do it to help him drift off to sleep. He didn't know how long it took but he soon heard the sleepy sigh escape his daughter's mouth as she moved to snuggle into him. Smiling to himself, he wrapped an arm around his daughter's sleeping form and placed his head above hers, closing his own eyes as he drifted back into a peaceful sleep.

ooOoo

Elizabeth woke up that morning feeling that this was going to be a Christmas that she would always remember. The sun was starting to rise when she had opened her eyes and she had rolled over to see Rose sleeping peacefully behind her, curled up against her father, both of them breathing in and out at the same time with their curly hair a gigantic mess across the pillows. This was how she liked to wake up, on the few occasions that she had woken up with the two of them asleep beside her, she liked to see her boyfriend and his mini-me asleep because it was the only way that she could study them closely without being asked if something was on Will's face. It was as she watched the two of them sleeping that she noticed that her boyfriend and daughter breathed in and out in unison, their curls seemed to fall the same way despite the fact that Will's hair was shorter than Rose's shoulder length curls, they wrinkled their noses the same way even though Rose had inherited hers instead of Will's and they both slept with their mouths slightly parted.

She hadn't known when Rose had joined them but she could hazard a guess that she had managed to sleep through Rose's excited entrance to their bedroom during the early hours of the morning and that Will had managed to persuade their toddler that they had to sleep a little longer before they could open their presents downstairs. Moving her hand from under her pillows, she gently shook Rose awake and smiled as her daughter opened her eyes and blinked at her sleepily.

"Good morning Rosie." Lizzy whispered.

A few seconds of confused blinking and frowning, Rose's eyes lit up as she sprung from the bed; jumping up and down on the mattress which caused Will to wake up with a groan.

"It's Christmas!" Rose yelled excitedly.

"Shall we go and see if Santa has been yet?" Elizabeth asked.

Rose nodded, tugging down on her father's hand and trying to pull him out of bed. Lizzy laughed as Will took one last, large yawn and swung his legs from the bed to the floor; all the while Rose impatiently tried to lead him to the bedroom door.

"Wait a minute Rose, let Daddy get dressed." Will said quietly.

Lizzy got out of bed as Will went over to his chest of drawers and pulled out a pair of jogging bottoms to wear, having worn a t-shirt and boxers to bed the night before and then the three of them headed downstairs to see that Jane, Charles and Georgiana were already waiting for them.

"Merry Christmas." Everyone said cheerfully.

They all sat in front of the Christmas tree in a semi-circle, with Charles being the closest one and reaching under to pass presents to the person intended to receive it. One by one, they shared what their gift was and who had given it to them. Rose was by far the most excited, having received playsets, a Disney princess castle from the Frozen film, dressing up outfits, clothes, new shoes and it wasn't until the last one that Will handed to his daughter that she got the most excited that Lizzy had ever seen.

"MUMMY! WE'RE GOING TO DISNEYLAND!" her daughter shrieked happily.

Elizabeth looked over her daughter's shoulder and into the little plastic folder that Rose held. Inside were three tickets dated for the February half term alongside the hotel booking confirmation for three nights. She looked up at Will and smiled, this was possibly the best present that Rose had gotten this Christmas.

"Disneyland?" she whispered to her boyfriend.

Will looked a little uneasy, "I should have asked you first-"

She leaned over and kissed him lightly, "You don't need to ask me for permission." she assured him.

"You're sure that it's okay?"

Elizabeth nodded, "It'll be our first family holiday and where better than the place that Rose wants to visit more than anything?"

Will smiled down at her and squeezed her hand lightly as they all moved from the living room to the dining room to eat their breakfast. Rose insisted on wearing one of the princess outfits that Georgiana had bought for her after they had eaten and then they had the arrival of the Bennets to contend with.

"Where's your sister, Charles?" Mrs Bennet asked.

Charles shrugged, "Louisa and John are spending it with his family this year but they'll be arriving on the twenty-seventh for the wedding. As for Caroline, she said she was entertaining other people this year and would see me at the wedding." he replied.

"Oh that's a shame."

Elizabeth caught Will's eye, knowing exactly who Caroline was 'entertaining' this Christmas. Although Wickham had promptly left after being threatened by Will, there was still the matter that Caroline was conspiring with Eleanor behind everyone's backs. They had told Charles and Jane about their plan and what Wickham had told Will outside the sixth form buildings and the two had agreed that it was the best way to deal with the two scheming bitches if it kept Rose safe from harm. Charles had been fuming, having never thought that his sister would resort to even thinking about harming a child in order to get what she wanted and vowed that he would wash his hands of Caroline for good once his wedding was done. Jane had found the tale quite sickening, being pregnant with Caroline's future niece or nephew, she didn't want her future sister-in-law to be involved in any shape or form with her child once it was born. But hearing that they wouldn't have to spend the day with Caroline made Elizabeth feel at ease; she had no idea how she was supposed to act bitterly towards her boyfriend in front of Caroline and so having a Caroline free day was another good part of Christmas.

Once the entire household was dressed into their day clothes, more presents were opened, although Lydia was still sulking at the sudden departure of Wickham and refused to engage in any type of conversation that Elizabeth was apart of. Even Mr Bennet didn't really talk to her and she could only guess why; her father was still disappointed about her decision to move herself and Rose out of Longbourn, but it was a decision that had to be made.

After the presents had been unwrapped, everyone headed outside in the snow with the plastic sledges that Mr Bennet had brought over from Longbourn. Every year when the snow would fall heavily it was a Bennet family tradition that they head out to one of the hills and go sledging down them, a part of Christmas that Elizabeth loved; remembering the days when she was just a little bit older than Rose and she and her father would race down the hill and Mr Bennet would always let his daughters win. It was when she found herself walking alone with her father that she decided to clear the air with him. She hated being at odds with the man who had helped her out so much when Rose was born.

"Dad, are you angry with me?" Elizabeth asked.

Mr Bennet's smile faded but he continued to look ahead, watching as the others ran up the hill in the Netherfield grounds.

"I'm not angry Elizabeth, I always knew that you would leave home eventually and I always knew that Rose would go with you, she is your daughter and you have to make decisions for the both of you. I suppose that I wasn't expecting you to move out so soon and I suppose that I am disappointed at the way it happened. I also hoped that you would never want to leave Longbourn and I've done a lot of thinking about it since it happened." her father replied.

"I wish it could have gone differently but things between me and Lydia would have gotten a lot worse if I had stayed." Elizabeth muttered.

"That's what I've been thinking about. My lack of strict discipline in your youngest sister has caused her to be the way she is. Lydia thinks that it's perfectly acceptable to be a selfish girl who thinks only of her own benefit to a situation and threatening Rose the way she did in order to keep a sordid secret was one step too far. She is being punished and quite severely. She's seventeen in just under four weeks and we've told her that her birthday plans won't be going ahead, she'll have a quiet family meal and that's it."

"I'm glad that she's being punished, I hope she learns something from this."

"I hope so as well. I just miss the two of you, a lot more than I realised that I would. You've always been my favourite, my Lizzy, that's no secret and Rose is like you in so many ways that in a way I suppose I was being selfish myself in hoping that the two of you would always want to stay at home."

Elizabeth smiled sadly, "Dad, I love you. I always will and Rose loves you too. I'll always be grateful for what you did for me when I decided to keep Rose and raise her. I owe a lot to you and to Jane for what you did for me."

Mr Bennet wrapped an arm around her shoulder and squeezed her gently as they made their way up the hill to join the others.

"It's hard, watching you girls grow up. Jane is getting married in three days, you and Rose are becoming a family with William. Mary graduates next summer whilst Kitty seems to be quite smitten with this Denny that she's with. As for Lydia, I hope that she will learn some lessons from this whole affair. And Rose, she's four in the spring and it only seems like yesterday that I'd walk in to see you cradling her or cooing over her as she lay asleep in her moses basket. You've done well for yourself Lizzy and I don't want you to feel guilty for making a choice, I will come to terms with not having you around everyday, I promise. As long as I still get to see you and my granddaughter, that's all I care about." Mr Bennet replied.

They reached the top of the hill, with Lizzy feeling that the air had been cleared between her and her father after their little talk and they all took it in turns to race down the hill, with Jane the only one not joining in by saying that she wasn't feeling very well. Elizabeth smiled at her sister, knowing that she and Charles hadn't announced their pregnancy news to anyone else and were planning on doing so at the wedding reception having been to their scan a few days previously and had a due date of mid June. Elizabeth watched as Rose raced down the hill in a sledge with Georgiana against Will. When the two girls won their race, Rose laughed in delight and threw a snowball at her father, causing Georgiana to join in. It was nice to watch, having seen that her daughter was forging a close bond with Will's little sister.

One of Charles's staff members soon put a stop to their sledging fun when he ran across the field to announce that Christmas dinner was being served up in ten minutes for them to eat that they all made their way back to the house. As they made their way back to the house, Will held her hand and deliberately kept a slow pace of walking so that they could have a few minutes alone.

"So this is a Bennet family Christmas?" Will asked her.

Elizabeth nodded, "Pretty much, sledging is a family tradition and just a head's up, you have to wear the cracker hat throughout the entire meal." she replied.

"Why?"

"My mother insists on it, apparently it's something she and my uncle Ed used to have to do as kids and she carried it on with us."

"This is certainly a different experience to what me and Georgie used to do."

Elizabeth's smile faded, "Are you regretting not reaching out to your father?"

Will shook his head, "It's his own fault he isn't spending Christmas with myself or Georgie. I'd rather be here with you, my sister and Rose then be with him." he stated.

"He is still your father." Elizabeth pointed out.

"Christmas wasn't always an enjoyable time since my mother passed away so spending it with him he was sometimes a little harsh, he wouldn't just relax and enjoy himself the way that your family have this morning with the sledging." Will explained.

"I'm sorry." she whispered.

The two stopped walking, with Will looking down at her with a smile.

"Don't apologise, I'm not even sad that I'm not spending Christmas with him. I'm right where I want to be, with you, with my daughter, with my sister."

Elizabeth returned his warm smile and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him lightly before setting her feet flat once again in the snow. She had been a little worried about how he might be feeling about not spending Christmas with his father, and although she didn't blame him for cutting Reginald out of his life after everything that had happened, she thought it might be hard for him to spend this time of year with only one blood relative other than Rose and she wanted to include him in everything that she and Rose would have done with the Bennets as they did every year.

"I think this is Rose's best Christmas yet." Lizzy said.

Will raised an eyebrow, "I think Daddy gifting her a trip to Disneyland was the thing that did it?" he asked.

Elizabeth laughed, "Whilst I have to say that a trip to Disneyland is something she would love, I think it's being able to spend her first Christmas with her dad that's going to make it special." she replied.

He wrapped his arms around her tightly and pulled her closer to him.

"I can't believe how lucky I am. After everything that happened with my father and finding out that Eleanor was in on his betrayal, I didn't think I'd be so lucky to have you back in my arms, have our daughter, looking at houses to buy together. I just want everything with you and Rose." William said quietly.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"You were with Eleanor for a long time, did you ever want the same things with her that you want with me?"

Will shook his head, "My relationship with her was very different to what I have with you. When we were doing our bachelor's we were pretty much on and off for three years, you know that already. When we got back together after my father sent you away, the relationship went back to how it was before I met you. Eleanor was always pushing me for some commitment that I wasn't ready for, if anything my relationship with her was pressurised. Of course, I had feelings for her but the relationship felt forced and mostly it was because of what my father wanted me to do. I only asked her to move in with me because he wanted her to become part of the family, he was hoping that I would propose, get married to her, have babies with her and she wanted the things that my father wanted."

Elizabeth nodded, feeling somewhat awkward for having asked him about his ex-girlfriend on a day that was supposed to be about family.

"But what I have with you is what _I_ want, my father be damned. I want us to live together in a nice house, with a back garden where we can have barbecues and watch our daughter run around with other children. I want us to cuddle up with a glass of wine in the winter evenings in front of a fireplace, I want us to argue over silly little things, I want us to wake up together each morning and go to sleep together every night. I want to make love to you as often as we want to." Will whispered.

She looked up at him, feeling touched by him telling her what he wanted with her. Realising that his description of his relationship with Eleanor was something that he had felt like he _had_ to do instead of what he wanted was clearing up the questions that she might have had in the back of her mind. What _they_ had was what they both wanted; a life. They both wanted a life to live together, with arguments and making up and raising a family, Elizabeth realised that he didn't care about how short of time they had been back together and neither did she.

"I want that as well," Elizabeth muttered against his lips, "I want a life with you and Rose."

William grinned and lifted her off her feet.

"A life with you and Rose is perfect and perhaps one day we'll have more little terrors with my unruly curly hair, your teasing nature and Rose's cheekiness." Will whispered.

Elizabeth laughed, placing her gloved hands into his hair and began massaging his scalp gently.

"How many 'little terrors' are you planning on me giving birth to?"

"As many as we want, another two, maybe three." Will muttered.

Placing her lips to his, she kissed him hungrily. He met her pace quickly, his arms still holding her up in the air that she had to wrap her legs around his waist.

ooOoo

But little did they know that back at the house, they were being watched. Georgiana stood at the back door with Rose, having turned round to see where her brother and Elizabeth were and found herself smiling at the scene that the two had created. Never before had she seen her brother so happy and not afraid to show just how happy he was.

"They do that a lot." a voice pipped up.

Georgiana blinked, looking down at her three year old niece and smiled, running her bare hands through Rose's hair and make the snowflakes fall out of her curls.

"Is that so?" Georgiana asked.

Rose nodded, "It's icky but it's okay. Mummy makes Daddy googly eyes."

"Your daddy goes googly eyed?" Georgiana asked.

Rose smiled and nodded again, "Yeah. He says he loves mummy and sometimes boys do that when they love someone."

"What do you think?"

Rose stuck her tongue out, "Boys are icky!" she replied.

Georgiana laughed, noticing that Will had placed Elizabeth back down on the ground and the two of them were on their way back to the house.

"Come on kid, let's go inside. Maybe you can show me more of your presents?" Georgiana suggested.

Rose took hold of Georgiana's hand and the two headed back inside the warmth of the house.

ooOoo

Caroline sat back on the sofa, feeling full up from the Christmas dinner that Eleanor had made for the two of them. It wasn't exactly how she wanted to spend her Christmas but she could hardly leave Eleanor alone and Charles was spending the day with the bloody Bennets.

"Thank you for cooking, I'll have the dishes cleaned in a little while." Caroline muttered.

Eleanor took a sip of her wine, "It's no trouble. It's the least I could do to thank you for all your help, especially since Wickham left that text message about being a wanted man!"

"Rather Darcy be with someone suitable than Eliza Bennet!" Caroline replied, "As for Wickham, no matter. We can proceed without him and at least you still have the majority of the money you were going to pay him for his 'services'."

"Exactly! Only three days to go until I get Fitzwilliam back. But we still need to come up with a plan, are we going to use the girl or not?"

Caroline closed her eyes, wishing that Eleanor would stop pressuring her to come up with a plan to win Darcy back; especially when she was busy trying to come up with a plot of her own in order to get Darcy to push Eleanor away for good. So far she had summed up that by having Eliza and Darcy break up if their daughter were to vanish in the middle of the wedding reception they would blame the other for it; if Eliza was anything, it was that she was a devoted mother who would blame the father for the disappearance of her most prized possession.

Then she was planning on exposing Eleanor as the little girl's captor, to make it look like Eleanor would stop at nothing in order to get Darcy back into her arms. Her own role in her mind was to find the girl and return her safely to Darcy and be hailed a hero of sorts. She figured that Darcy would be so grateful to her for returning Rose that he would agree to give her a chance at being the sort of girlfriend he deserved.

"Don't worry Elle, the opportunity will present itself. You only need to listen to my instructions and all will be well." Caroline promised.

But before Eleanor could reply, Caroline's phone began to ring. Rolling her eyes, Caroline moved from the sofa and picked up her mobile, heading out into the hallway to answer the phone call.

"Merry Christmas Carrie." Charles said brightly.

"Merry Christmas brother, how is that delightful future wife of yours?"

"Jane's fine just tired. Her family have gone home now so we're enjoying the quiet house."

 _I bet you are. My family home._ She thought bitterly.

"I trust Darcy had a good Christmas?" Caroline asked.

A pause. Her brother rarely paused like this. Unless...

"Charles?"

"Sorry. Um...Darcy's not in a good place at the moment."

"What do you mean?"

"Well...he and Lizzy got into a fight...a _really_ bad one." Charles sighed.

 _A fight? A really bad one?_

"What happened?" Caroline asked, hoping she didn't sound too interested.

Another pause. She rolled her eyes as Charles cleared his throat before speaking again.

"Well I shouldn't say but I know you care about him...Lizzy got uncomfortable with him buying Rose too many Christmas gifts, said that he should have stuck to a list that she gave him for ideas for Rose and he replied that it was his first Christmas with her, he's her dad so he shouldn't have to ask permission to spoil his daughter, said he wanted to make up for lost time. Lizzy didn't take it very well and said that Rose would come to expect a lot of things and that the money Darcy is going to inherit from his father one day will ruin the life she wanted Rose to have, that she doesn't want her daughter growing up thinking that money is the answer to everything. So they argued, with Darcy stating that he didn't want to feel like he should have to ask permission to parent the way he wants to parent and that Rose is his child as much as hers, regardless of who raised the girl for the first three years. Lizzy said that she's Rose's primary caregiver so he has to clear something with her before he wants to buy something or whatever for Rose."

 _Oh Eliza! You stupid cow!_ she thought with glee.

"Well, Eliza never did like handouts but Darcy is hardly not going to forget what is rightfully his." Caroline commented.

"Mmmm." Charles replied.

"So what happened next?"

"Well...Darcy said that he couldn't help where he had come from, his family background wasn't something he could change and it was a part of Rose as well. Lizzy said that Rose was perfectly fine knowing what really mattered because of the upbringing she had been giving Rose for the first three and half years and wanted to continue to raise her that way. Then they argued about how different they were and Lizzy said that she wished that he had never come back into their lives if this was the way he felt. Darcy got angry and said he had given up everything to be with her and Rose and she should be thanking him for it but Lizzy didn't take that well so she packed her bags and took Rose back to Longbourn, their relationship is over."

Caroline thought herself lucky. Finally here was an opportunity where she didn't have to scheme in order to get what she wanted. Hearing the news that Eliza had broken up with Darcy was the best Christmas present she could receive, now she didn't have to use Rose to cause a break up between the two and she didn't have to frame Eleanor for Rose's kidnap, she just had to find another excuse to get Darcy to reject Eleanor once and for all to pave the way for her to win Darcy's attention and affection.

"Oh dear...It sounds likes it's been a little dramatic at Netherfield today." Caroline tutted.

"Just a tad." Charles agreed sourly.

"Well, I won't keep you. Pass my best on to Darcy and Jane for me. Merry Christmas Charles."

"Bye Carrie, enjoy the rest of the day."

The phone went dead as Caroline headed back into the living room, ready to tell Eleanor the good news.

ooOoo

As Charles hung up the phone he looked over at him and smiled. Will had been sat in silence dreading how Caroline would take the news, wondering if his best friend's little sister was suspicious at Wickham's sudden disappearance.

"I think she bought it." Charles announced.

"You think?" Will asked.

Charles nodded, "She certainly sounded very interested in the little tale I spun her."

"She's always interested in every aspect of my life." Will pointed out.

"I don't like it Darcy. I don't like deceiving my sister like this." Charles sighed.

The two sat down and exhaled heavily. Although it seemed that Caroline had bought Charles's little story of how he and Lizzy had broken up over an argument about money, there were still three days to go until the wedding and he still had to make sure that Rose would be kept well away from Caroline Bingley and his crazy ex-girlfriend.

"Your sister needs to be taught a lesson Charles. Do you think I want to deceive and play games like this? Your sister was plotting to make my daughter disappear. My daughter and your niece! Caroline will stop at nothing to try and gain some sort of affection from me." Will said angrily.

"I know. I just wish that my sister hadn't decided to do this, I thought she would know better. Ever since you and Lizzy told me and Jane about what Wickham told you, it's been a sore subject for Jane and I to talk about. Jane is adamant that when our baby is born, Caroline will have nothing to do with it."

"Can you blame her?"

Charles shook his head, "I can't blame anything on Jane, she only has the best interests of our child at heart and I love her all the more for it. If Caroline is willing to abduct a child who is officially my niece in three days time, how can I trust her with any child that Jane and I will have?"

"You can't." Will replied.

"I wish this wasn't happening, not at my wedding. Not in my home where my family and friends are gathering to celebrate Jane and I starting a new chapter of our lives together."

"I wish it wasn't happening at all. I understand that Eleanor might be feeling bitter about me breaking up with her and moving on and to some extent I can understand that she would scheme to win me back but not like this. Lizzy is on edge although she's trying her best to act normal."

Charles sighed again, rubbing his temple as if he was trying to ease an headache. Will felt for his friend, feeling slightly guilty as well for telling his best friend and Jane what Wickham had only told him a few days ago but he and Lizzy felt that the two of them deserved to be in on what was happening and what might happen.

"I promise you Darcy, once this is over and my sister is exposed and humiliated, I will personally see to it that you and Caroline never set foot in the same room together ever again." Charles vowed.

Will patted his friend on the back, knowing that the next three days were going to be full of worry and wonder at what exactly would happen and whether his plan with Lizzy would work out. If Charles was correct that Caroline had bought the story that he and Lizzy were broken up, Rose would be safe and right now, that was his main priority.


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N:** So it's been three weeks since my last update on this, apologies. A few days after my last chapter was posted, I gave birth to a very healthy baby who has been keeping me very busy. Now this chapter isn't my best work so I apologise for that but it is the sort of 'kick-off' in terms of what is going to come in the chapters that follow.

Now, thank you as always for those of you who review, please continue to do so. The next chapter I'm hoping to post within the next two weeks if I manage to get my uni examination essay finished before it's due date and if I do, my free time will be spent writing the next chapter.

Enjoy!

* * *

Elizabeth was finding living back at home for a few days in the lead up to the wedding quite strange. Of course, Lydia still refused to speak two words to her and she was perfectly okay with that but she had grown accustomed to sharing a bed with Will every night and their pretend break-up was proving difficult to handle. She had gone back to Longbourn with suitcases for her and Rose on Boxing day and spent the day with Aunt Maddie and Uncle Ed who were staying in the Longbourn guest room for the wedding. But saying goodbye to Will was hard. One reason was that she was used to kissing him goodbye and she couldn't do that and the second reason was because Caroline had pulled up on the driveway just as she was leaving and the look on Caroline's face made her feel furious at what she knew Charles's sister was attempting to plan. But she kept quiet, in order for Will's plan to work, she needed to keep calm.

Text messages were exchanged but it was hard not seeing him in the flesh, especially as she knew that Caroline would be trying to cosy up to her boyfriend but she kept calm by catching up with her Aunt and Uncle, playing with Rose and Jane in the snowy gardens at Longbourn and making sure that the last minute wedding arrangements were sorted. On the twenty-seventh, Elizabeth sat outside Netherfield in her car; waiting for her sister to finish saying goodbye to Charles, the last time they would see each other before meeting at the altar tomorrow morning.

When Jane got in the car, the two waved goodbye to Charles and started the three mile drive back to Longbourn.

"You look so lost." Elizabeth teased.

Jane gave her a small smile, "Call me pathetic or whatever but I'll miss him." her sister replied.

"It doesn't make you pathetic, I understand."

"I imagine it's been quite hard for you the last few days?" Jane asked.

Elizabeth nodded, "I've become so used to sleeping beside Will that having to pretend that we've broken up is quite hard for me."

"Well tonight is the last night that you only need to pretend. Just remember that it's to keep Rose safe." Jane said, reassuringly.

Elizabeth sighed as they pulled to a stop by some traffic lights. She knew that this was the only way that she could keep her daughter safe from the hands of two psychotic women who wanted to get their grubby hands on her boyfriend but she still didn't like it.

"Your wedding should be a day where I should be relaxed and celebrating your new life with Charles but his crazy sister and Will's obsessive ex-girlfriend have made that impossible."

"The sooner that Will takes Eleanor to one side to explain everything and affirm that he's with you now the better because the confrontation will happen a lot sooner and then you can spend the rest of the reception relaxed and happy." Jane stated.

"I'll ask Will to make sure that it happens in the house. The last thing we need is the confrontation between Eleanor and Caroline to happen in the marquee." Elizabeth replied.

Jane smiled as the two stopped at a pair of traffic lights as they discussed the last minute plans for the wedding, with Elizabeth reciting her mental list of responsibilities out loud to her older sister in order to reassure Jane that nothing would be forgotten. When the pair got back to Longbourn, they spent the evening relaxing, ordering a takeaway for dinner to celebrate Jane's last official night as a Bennet.

The discussion of marriage was her mother's favourite subject of conversation that night, with Mrs Bennet gushing over how right it seemed that Elizabeth was now back in a committed relationship with her child's father and how she hoped that she would marry William one day; something which caused Aunt Maddie to smile fondly at her niece and Rose's ears to perk up at the mention of her parents getting married. It was as Elizabeth was climbing the stairs to put Rose to bed that her daughter decided to quiz her on the subject.

"Mummy, are you and Daddy gonna get married?" Rose asked.

Elizabeth didn't really know how to answer. On the one hand, she wanted to have that with William one day. She liked the thought of marrying him and having that type of commitment to him but at the same time, she didn't want to just presume that Will was going to turn around and propose to her; they had only just agreed to look at houses together after all.

"Maybe darling, we'll see." Elizabeth replied.

Rose frowned as they entered the toddler's bedroom, "But Auntie Jane is married to Uncle Charlie tomorrow." she stated.

Elizabeth chuckled a little.

"I know sweetheart. But getting married takes a lot of thinking and talking about."

Rose rolled her eyes, "Everythin' needs thinkin'." she muttered.

Elizabeth helped Rose change into a pair of pyjamas before pulling back the bed covers so Rose could climb into bed.

"Mummy, how do you get married?" Rose asked.

"Well Uncle Charlie asked Auntie Jane and she said yes. Tomorrow we get to wear pretty dresses and meet Charlie at the church-"

"I _know_ we go to church silly mummy!"

"Then what do you mean?" Elizabeth asked.

"Does daddy have to ask you?"

That question had her lost for thought. In terms of tradition, something which was evidently important to her own mother, the man would ask the woman to become his wife but in modern times, sometimes women would ask their partners to get married.

"Rosie, I think anyone who loves someone the way your daddy and I love each other could ask the other to get married."

The little girl smiled, "Okay. Night mummy, love you."

"I love you too Rose."

With a sleepy sigh, Rose turned on to her side as Elizabeth left the room and quietly shut the door behind her; imagining what life would be like if she and Rose were to officially become Darcys. Everything that she and Will had already spoken about, moving in together, having a life together, perhaps more children one day, well they didn't necessarily have to be married to have all that; they could be a family like they were now but just the thought of being able to sign things as Will's wife and to officially make Rose change her name from Bennet to Darcy made her feel quite warm and happy on the inside.

"Elizabeth! where are you?" Mrs Bennet called from the bottom of the stairs, "Come and try your dress on to show Uncle Ed and Aunt Maddie!"

Coming out of her daydream, Elizabeth sighed and headed downstairs, putting all thoughts of a possible married life with William out of her head for the time being.

ooOoo

As the Bennets were celebrating their daughter's last night as a Bennet, over at Netherfield the atmosphere wasn't as cosy and nice. With their car having broken down, Charles had been called to go and pick his sister Louisa and his brother-in-law John up from a motorway services whilst their car got towed to the nearest garage that was local to Netherfield. Will had so far overseen the catering company set up the marquee in the grounds so that it was ready for the reception the following afternoon but had so far been pestered by Caroline who had insisted on keeping him company.

The two were now sat in the living room and Caroline had commented that she knew why he was in a bad mood and it was because of his break-up with Elizabeth. How he had so far managed to keep silent and not ripped his best friend's sister limb from limb, he didn't know. All he knew was that he had to keep his mouth shut and put up with Caroline for another day and then it would come out that he knew the whole plot and have her and his crazy ex-girlfriend ejected from his life once and for all.

"Only one day to go until my brother marries Jane." Caroline mused.

Will nodded and drained the rest of the wine from his glass, pretending to be brooding over his 'break-up' with Elizabeth. All day, Caroline had been watching him closely so he found himself only occasionally being able to text Elizabeth to which Caroline asked who he was messaging and he said that he was trying to arrange a custody agreement with Elizabeth about Rose but she was being difficult. Of course, he felt bad for saying that about his girlfriend; but it was the only way to keep Caroline from becoming suspicious.

"Don't worry Darcy! She was never any good for you." Caroline sighed, sitting on the sofa next to him.

Will sighed, placing his head on the back of the sofa and closed his eyes.

"I thought we could have what we had in Spain but Elizabeth is right, we're just too different. She will never accept my family background the way that others do."

"I know. We all want that fairytale ending and I admire you all the more for it," Caroline said, "But Eliza was never the one to have it with. Maybe it's better that you're getting out now instead of her getting herself pregnant with baby number two and trapping you even more."

He wanted to rip the tongue out of her mouth but he resisted the urge. If he was going to keep his daughter safe, he had to listen to Caroline's unfair and nasty comments about Elizabeth and he could only hope that tomorrow would go as smoothly as he and Elizabeth wanted it to go.

"Can we not talk about Elizabeth right now please Caroline? It's just too much right now and I've still got things to sort out for the wedding." Will said grumpily.

Caroline blinked and patted his thigh lightly, "Of course. I understand. You need time to move on, it's certainly been a rough few months for you and having to take care of Georgiana now that she and your father aren't speaking must also be difficult." she said sympathetically, "But, just know that I am here for you no matter what. Whether it be a chat or _something else,_ you only need to text or call me and I'll be straight here for you."

Her emphasis on the 'something else' part was making him vomit on the inside. Despite having knocked her back a few weeks ago, it was clear that Caroline really wouldn't just accept that he was never going to be interested in her. But this time, instead of soundly rejecting her, he gave her a small smile and muttered his thanks before moving out of the room to continue his best man duties before heading to bed for the night. Will didn't like having to go to the lengths of faking a break-up or getting his best friend involved but in order for his plan to work, he had to make Caroline think that it was really over with Elizabeth in order to prevent Rose from coming to harm at the wedding tomorrow. He knew that once he revealed Caroline's intentions to Eleanor, the aftermath would not be pretty but everyone involved in the plan had agreed that it was a necessary evil to prevent harm from coming to an innocent child.

ooOoo

The only other time that Alice Reynolds could remember Christmas being a sad affair for the Darcy family was the first one that her boss and his children had to spend after Anne Darcy had died. This year wasn't as bad as that Christmas but it was shaping up to be the second worst Christmas that she had ever spent at Pemberley. With most of the staff having the day off to spend with their families, she remained with a few other staff members at Pemberley to ensure that Reginald didn't resort to doing something stupid.

Her boss barely spoke to her these days, it had been that way since she had locked him in his study and had the locks changed on the study door and the wine cellar where she had made the kitchen staff move all traces of alcohol to be stored there. She was determined not to let her boss drink himself to death and had begun to put Reginald on a ration per day that he was allowed to have, hoping that going back to drinking in moderation would be a lot better for his condition than forcing him to go cold turkey. But the ration only made him more irritable and he was still refusing to go to the alcoholic support group that the doctor had recommended. Alice was also dealing with the majority of the responsibilities of Pemberley, leaving the running of the estate to Norman on Reginald's behalf whilst she took over his healthcare, having spoken to a liver consultant at the local hospital and had arranged an appointment for the tenth of January for her boss and had received a letter confirming that Reginald was now on the list awaiting a liver donation.

But she knew that even if Reginald was on the list awaiting for an available donation, it could take a while to actually have the call to say that there was one available to him. Alice knew that the best bet would be to get Reginald's relatives tested to see if they were a match. From the research that she had done into liver transplants, the liver regenerated itself so a relative could donate a portion of their own liver to be placed into Reginald and then the two livers would grow back in both the donor and the receiver. But with Fitzwilliam and Georgiana not currently on speaking terms with their father and refusing to spend Christmas with him, they were still in the dark about their father's condition.

Christmas day was practically silent for the most part at Pemberley, she had stayed behind with a few other staff members to ensure that Reginald would be taken care of and cooked a Christmas dinner for all of them to share together but Reginald wasn't in the sharing mood. Instead, he ate in alone in his rooms and didn't emerge until midday on Boxing day, asking if his children had at least been in touch and she hated shaking her head in reply. Reginald simply put himself back to bed and remained in his rooms the entire day of the twenty-seventh in bed feeling sorry for himself.

But on the morning of the twenty-eight of December, Alice woke up that morning with a funny feeling. She went about making breakfast for Reginald and knocked on his suite door, opening it after a few minutes of complete silence to discover that her employer wasn't in his suite. She headed back downstairs, searching in the living room, the dining room and the study but Reginald was nowhere to be found. As she placed the tray down on to the desk, her eyes widened as she looked in to the open diary on the desk.

Scrawled in Reginald's handwriting was: _Charles Bingley's wedding, Netherfield, 1pm._

"Norman!" Alice called loudly.

She heard the footsteps close by and looked up at the doorway as Norman entered the room.

"What's wrong, Alice?" Norman asked.

"Have you see the boss today?"

Norman nodded, "He said he was going into Lambton, asked one of the younger gardeners if they could drive him in because he'd been drinking last night."

"Which gardener?"

"Robert, I think his name was." Norman replied.

Alice thumped the desk, knowing that Robert was one of the newest recruits to Pemberley and only worked part time managing the grounds around the estate, the boy would have no idea about Reginald's drinking problem and declining health conditions and therefore could be easily persuaded to drive their boss to Netherfield for the wedding that his son and daughter were attending.

"Norman, bring the car around. I need to get to that wedding before Reginald does." Alice instructed.

Her friend frowned, "Why?" he asked.

"Because Reginald is on his way to Charles Bingley's wedding where Fitzwilliam and Georgiana are and they don't want to see him. They can't find out that their father is seriously ill this way, it needs to come from me in a more private setting." Alice replied.

Norman nodded his understanding and left the study, heading out to bring the car around to the front of the building. Alice sighed heavily, following Norman a few minutes later and hoping that she could stop Reginald from making a fool out of himself.


	22. Chapter 22

**A / N:** Firstly, I'd like to thank all of you who wished me and my new baby well, we're both doing really great, although the four hourly feeds are still an adjustment that I'm slowly getting used to. As for my university, it's over now for the next four months as I've finished for the year. So my summer is going to be spent focussing on my gorgeous kids and writing.

Now this chapter is the first of the wedding chapters which will see the long awaited wedding ceremony. I believe most of you are eager for the wedding reception chapter which will be next but comes in two parts. I will aim to have it up within the next week, if not it will definitely be up within the next two.

As always, thank you for the reviews and please continue to let me know your thoughts.

Enjoy!

* * *

The day had finally come.

When Elizabeth walked downstairs that morning, she was quite surprised to see that it was mostly a calm atmosphere, having dreamed the night before that the preparations in getting ready would be quite chaotic. In her dream, her mother had been so frantic that the dresses had been delivered in the wrong colour and the flowers were torn to shreds that she had passed out and that Lydia and Kitty had been fighting over the nail polish that they had caused some to spill on Jane's dress and veil. But no, her dream had been just that- a dream. Mrs Hill was serving up breakfast whilst Lydia went about painting Jane's nails whilst Aunt Maddie was starting to style Rose's hair into a French plait. Mr Bennet was finishing up reading the morning paper before he disappeared upstairs to put his suit on.

"What time does the ceremony start again?" Ed asked.

"Forgive my brother Maddie, he's always been a tad forgetful!" Mrs Bennet shouted from the living room.

Maddie smiled as she finished tying the plait at the end of Rose's hair.

"It's fine Fran." Maddie called back.

"It starts at eleven, uncle Ed. Family photographs will take place at the church and at Netherfield before the reception which starts at one o'clock." Jane said.

"Short service then?" Ed asked, sipping his tea.

Jane nodded as Lydia finished painting her nails.

"Charles and I wanted something short and simple for the service but he did agree that we'd get married at the church Mum and Dad got married in."

Lizzy helped herself to a slice of toast as Maddie moved on to start styling Mary's hair as Lydia and Kitty started to paint their own nails. Jane had chosen that their hair as her bridesmaid, aside from Rose, was to have in a half up, half down style with the top half pinned into a bun and the bottom half to be curled loosely around their shoulders. The bun would then be decorated with royal blue and silver flower hair pins. Once her sisters were finished having their nails done and hairs styled, Lizzy sat in one of the empty dining room chairs so that Aunt Maddie could do her own whilst Jane went upstairs with Mrs Bennet to get into her dress.

"So, you've been reunited with the nice young man you met during your time with us in Spain?" Maddie asked quietly.

Elizabeth smiled, "We are and I couldn't be happier." she said.

"Jane explained to us what happened in private after your mother shared the news with us that you were back with William. I feel awful that the two of you were put through so much hurt in order to be kept apart." Maddie muttered.

Elizabeth felt the hot curling tongs on the bottom half of hair and began to curl around the tongs.

"I think that because of what we went through with his father keeping us apart for his own reasons, we're quite open and honest with each other." Elizabeth replied.

"That's sometimes the best way to go into a relationship after experiencing a lot of hurt caused by someone else. As long as you're happy Lizzy, that's all your Uncle and I want for you girls."

Elizabeth smiled, "Will makes me very happy Aunt Maddie, you don't need to worry."

The two continued to chat about how the bar was doing in Spain to how Lizzy's job at school was going to discussing Rose starting school next year whilst Lydia painted Lizzy's nails to match the others before the girls got changed into their bridesmaid dresses. Jane and Charles had chosen royal blue and silver as their colour scheme for their wedding, Jane had chosen for her sisters to wear a floor length, strapless, corseted royal blue dress with silver beading on the top half of the dress, with a silver wrap for her bridesmaids to wear in the cold.

"You girls look lovely." Maddie smiled when Lizzy and her sisters came downstairs, with Rose wearing a silver flower girl dress.

"I'm not sure," Lydia replied, "I don't think royal blue is my colour."

"Shush Lydi." Mary whispered, gesturing to the stairs.

Lizzy's eyes averted from the entrance hall to the staircase where she saw her teary-eyed mother descending with Jane in tow. She smiled at how beautiful her sister looked, Jane's blonde hair had been pulled back into an elegant bun, a silver tiara sparkling on top of her head. The dress flowed out from Jane's hips, fitting her figure perfectly as Jane held the skirt up so that she didn't trip over.

"Jane...you look amazing!" Lizzy squealed.

As her sister reached the bottom of the stairs, they shared a hug before Mr Gardiner took a few group photos as they were waiting for the cars to arrive to take them to the church. For the first time in living memory, Elizabeth found that her mother was speechless. As Mr Bennet announced that the cars had pulled up the driveway, he led Jane out to the first car before the others headed for the other car.

"Mum, are you okay?" Lizzy asked.

Mrs Bennet sniffed but smiled assuringly at her.

"It's a happy day for us all Lizzy, it's hard watching your children grow up and move on with their lives. It only seems like yesterday that I was cradling Jane in my arms and here she is, about to start the next chapter of her life with the man she loves. I'll be fine." Mrs Bennet replied.

Lizzy returned her mother's smile.

"It will be a while before you experience a full empty nest syndrome mum, Lydia isn't even seventeen yet." she pointed out.

"True. But in the space of weeks my eldest has moved out and so have you and my granddaughter, Mary and Kitty only live here part time and Lydia will be off to university soon..."

The two of them got into the car with the rest of the Bennet girls, each and every one of them excited to be sharing the enjoyment of being able to watch their sister walk down the aisle.

ooOoo

Will stood at the top of the altar next to his best friend, trying to assure Charles that there was nothing to be nervous about. Ever since their arrival to the church, Charles had been a little shaky about the moment coming and it was shortly going to be upon them. The guests were seated and waiting, with Caroline sitting a few rows from the front, smiling at him in a way that made his stomach churn. She was yet to bring Eleanor to the wedding and since his ex-girlfriend hadn't turned up at the church, he guessed that Caroline would be bringing her to the wedding reception.

Then the organ started playing the wedding march which caused the guests to stand from their seats and turn their attention in the direction of the church doors. Will watched as Mr Bennet walked up the aisle with Jane, smiling proudly but whilst Jane looked lovely in her dress, his eyes were on Elizabeth and a grinning Rose, his two girls looked absolutely beautiful in their dresses and both looked as proud as Mr Bennet to be a part of Jane and Charles's special day.

As Mr Bennet reached the altar with Jane, the guests took to their seats as the bride and groom took hold of each other's hands and stood before the vicar. Will briefly looked behind him to see that Caroline was still watching him closely so he did the one thing that he had to keep doing in order to keep the plan going; he gave her a warm smile before standing next to his best friend as Elizabeth took hold of Jane's bouquet.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the joining in marriage of Charles Bingley and Jane Bennet…"

The vicar kept the ceremony as short and simple as Charles and Jane had wanted, talking a little about what marriage meant, with Mrs Bennet reading out a poem that had been read at her own wedding all those years ago. Then the vicar moved on to asking the bride and groom to repeat the traditional wedding vows after him and he couldn't help but smile as Charles leaked tears of happiness from his eyes as his best friend promised to love and to cherish his new wife.

Simple gold bands were delicately placed on their wedding fingers before the church clapped as Charles kissed his new bride. The newly wedded Bingleys faced their guests with big smiles and little tears of joy as the vicar asked them to sign the marriage certificate as the guests made their way out into the wintery weather the day had provided them with.

"Darcy," Caroline greeted, "Lovely ceremony wasn't it?"

"It was." William agreed.

They stood outside the church, clapping and cheering as Jane and Charles made their way out and stood in the doorway, listening to the photographer's instructions as they had their pictures taken.

"Trust my brother to cry as he was saying his vows! Charles has always been too emotional when it comes to Jane Bennet." Caroline chuckled.

What was with this woman? She had to take amusement in the fact that Charles had been happy when it came to marrying the woman he loved.

"Personally, I think it doesn't really matter if Charles cried or not when saying his vows. It's a happy day for the two of them, they've made a very deep commitment to each other." William said defensively.

Caroline blinked, "Of course. I meant no offense. I know that you feel an attachment of sorts to the Bennet family. It's only natural considering your child is half Bennet." She muttered.

"Well, the Bennets are your family now as well now that Charles has married into the family."

"You have a point there Darcy. Do you ever see yourself getting married? Now that Eleanor is out of the picture and things with Eliza have gone down the toilet-"

 _Just breathe Will, only a few more hours until this woman is out of your life for good._

"Sorry to interrupt Carrie, but the photographer wants Darcy in the next lot of pictures." Charles interrupted.

Will left Caroline standing alone as he walked over the doors of the church and found himself standing alone next to Elizabeth. Now that he could see her a lot closer, he wanted to reach out and kiss her senseless, he wanted to make up for the time he had missed out on with her over the last few days due to their pretence of a break-up. Instead, he stood facing the photographer and smiled, talking to her without facing her; Caroline was still watching him like a hawk and they needed to make sure that Caroline believed that they were over in order to keep Rose from coming to any harm during the wedding reception.

"You look beautiful." Will complimented so quietly that only she would hear.

"Thank you," she murmured back.

"I hope that tonight we can make up for the time we lost over the last few days." Will whispered.

The photographer continued to click the camera away as they smiled and changed poses, with Will, the bridesmaids and Charles having a few photographs taken without Jane and then Charles stepping out so that the photographer could get some photos of Jane with the bridesmaids and the best man on her own.

"What did you have in mind?" Elizabeth whispered.

"When the guests have gone home for the night and we're alone, behind closed doors, I intend to show you how much I've missed you in a way that we both find pleasurable."

"Is that so?" Elizabeth whispered.

He could hear the tone of excitement in her whisper, making it clear to him that she was rather eager to put an end to the days of anxious waiting.

"Tonight is what I've been looking forward to since you went back to Longbourn." Will said quietly.

The photographer finished snapping the photographs and announced that it was the bride's turn to be pictured with her parents and then Charles's family before the happy couple would be photographed with the bride's family. Will turned to face Elizabeth as the rest of her sisters left their little group to go and talk to various family members and friends who had been present in the church.

"I'll see you later then." Elizabeth replied quietly, giving him a small wink before walking away to speak with her aunt and uncle who were talking to Rose.

Luckily, Caroline hadn't seen his interaction with Elizabeth. Charles's poisonous little sister was now too busy chatting to Louisa and Jonathan and looking quite displeased with something but quite frankly, he didn't care if Caroline was in a bad mood. After all of her scheming over the past few months to try and 'help' Eleanor and then plotting to kidnap his daughter, Caroline could rot in hell for all he cared.

ooOoo

Elizabeth stood with the rest of her family as the photographer finished taking the last few photographs of Charles and Jane at the church whilst Mr Bennet announced to the guests to make their way back to Netherfield for the reception to start. The guests started walking back to where they had parked their cars whilst she walked back to the one that had driven her and her sisters here from Longbourn. Rose kept talking about how she liked watching the ceremony, even going as far as to hint that she'd like to watch her own parents have that ceremony one day.

"We'll see what happens Rose." Elizabeth said with a small smile.

But her little girl couldn't stop grinning which made Elizabeth think that her daughter was up to no good. She knew it was because the look on her daughter's face was the same one that she had when she was the same age, the same look that she continued to have as she got older.

As she got into the car, she saw that they were joined by William and her parents and the driver pulled away from the church to take them on the three mile drive back to Netherfield.

"Oh it was such a lovely little ceremony!" Mrs Bennet gushed, "Jane looked so beautiful in her dress and you girls did really well-"

Elizabeth looked at William and smiled, "You're going to get a lot of this talk over the next few months." she apologised.

Will laughed in her ear.

"Well a wedding is something that is talked about for a few months after it happens and I'm sure once Jane and Charles announce their other bit of news today, your mother will certainly have another subject to talk about once others get bored of hearing about Jane's dress or how much money they spent on the wedding reception." he whispered to her.

Elizabeth laughed a little.

"I suppose today is doubly special for my sister." Elizabeth said quietly.

"I have to agree. They seem like the happiest couple in the world."

She took hold of his hand and gave it a light squeeze, something else she had missed doing since she and Rose had left Netherfield and she and Will had staged a break-up in order to get Caroline to change her mind about causing Rose any harm.

"And after all of this is over today, can we go back to being happy?" Elizabeth asked.

William smiled at her and nodded, bringing her hand to his lips and giving her knuckles a light kiss.

"I promise you that once all of this is over, once those two crazy women are out of our lives for good, we can start looking at houses and buy one together as well as discussing other things that we want to happen and then we make them happen." Will whispered.

Before she could kiss him, the driver pulled to a stop and the engine was switched off. They had arrived at Netherfield for the wedding reception to start.

Elizabeth sighed as the door opened and her parents scrambled out of the car.

"Ready to pretend that we hate each other right now?" she asked him.

"Hate is a bit too strong. But yes, I'm ready to pretend that we're bickering and bitter about each other right now." William replied.

Watching him get out of the car after her parents, she allowed Mary and Kitty to follow him before she helped Rose scramble out of the car before climbing out herself. It was only a short amount of time left to go before their plan would be put into effect.


	23. Chapter 23

**A / N:** As always, thank you for the reviews on the last chapter. This one deals is the wedding reception so I hope you like it, let me know what your thoughts are once you've read it.

The next chapter will deal with the aftermath of the wedding reception and will, hopefully, be posted sometime within the next two weeks.

Enjoy.

* * *

In the snow covered grounds of Netherfield, a white marquee with mobile bar had been set up to accommodate all of the guests who had been invited to the wedding reception. Small circular tables that could comfortably seat six people took up half of the marquee, decorated with silver table cloths and royal blue centrepieces in the form of fabric made flowers and blueberry scented tea lights held in a silver holder in the middle of the tables. The chairs had been covered in royal blue material and tied with silver ribbons delicately around the backrests. The other half of the marquee held the portable, wooden dance floor and a small stage where the band were already set up to play.

The guests had already entered the marquee, sitting at the tables as they chatted amongst themselves. Elizabeth entered the marquee with Rose, choosing to sit at the table that Charlotte and Matthew had occupied and started chatting with her friends. Both her friends complimented on how all the Bennet girls looked beautiful, especially the new Mrs. Bingley.

"Oh Eliza!" a voice called.

She turned around to see that Caroline was stood behind her chair, wearing a ridiculously bright green dress with matching shoes and clutch bag. Only, Caroline was also accompanied by a blonde woman who wore a peach coloured dress and a scowl that made her look like she had smelled something unpleasant.

"Caroline, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Elizabeth asked politely.

"Lovely ceremony wasn't it?"

Elizabeth nodded, "I've never seen a happier couple." She agreed.

"It's a shame about you and Darcy, I suppose it was never meant to be was it?" Caroline tutted, wearing a rather huge smirk on her face.

On the inside, Elizabeth felt rage coursing through her. A rage that she wanted to act upon by flooring Caroline and revealing that she knew about the vindictive plots that had been going on for god knows how long.

"But then again, perhaps it was for the best. Darcy needs to be with someone worthy of him and his family's values. Someone like Eleanor." Caroline said, nodding to the woman behind her.

Elizabeth briefly met Eleanor's cold stare and knew the look on her rival's face was one of pure hatred. She could tell that by the way Eleanor glared at her, the blonde was trying to intimidate her and trying to make her feel some sort of guilt or something for being in a relationship with William. It was almost as if Eleanor didn't feel any remorse over being Reginald's confidante and keeping Rose a secret from William. It was like she didn't accept any blame or fault for her relationship breaking down with William.

"If William thought that either of you were worthy of him," Elizabeth said quietly, "he'd have chosen to be with either of you or he wouldn't have broken up with Eleanor in the first place."

Both women looked a little shocked.

"You brainwashed him!" Eleanor hissed.

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow, "I assure you, I wouldn't manipulate anyone to do anything." She replied.

"What does it matter? Darcy's relationship with you is over!" Caroline almost growled.

"Well, sometimes things don't always go the way you want them to. I just hope that we can be civil for the sake of our daughter."

Caroline's eyes met Rose's.

"Yes, your little brat."

Rose glared at Caroline and picked up some of the tiny cheesy biscuit that had been laid on the table as a snack before the buffet was opened and, with perfect aim, chucked the cheesy biscuits at Caroline's chest. Caroline gasped in shock as Matthew and Charlotte burst into fits of laughter as Caroline shoved her hands down the front of her dress to retrieve the biscuits from her bra.

"Least I don't look like a bogey!" Rose yelled.

As Caroline and Eleanor stormed away to sit at a table on the far side of the marquee, Elizabeth joined in with the laughter until she saw the smile on her daughter's face fade away.

"What's the matter Rose?" Elizabeth asked.

"Are you and Daddy not together anymore?" Rose questioned.

Elizabeth sighed, knowing it must be confusing for her daughter after hearing Caroline's attempts at gloating.

"Don't listen to Caroline, she's just trying to hurt us." Elizabeth whispered.

"Do you love Daddy still?"

"Very much."

"And he loves you?"

"Yes. Don't worry sweetheart." Elizabeth assured her daughter.

The subject was forgotten as the lead singer of the band announced for the first time, the entrance of the bride and groom as Mr. and Mrs. Bingley. The guests took their seats as Jane and Charles stood on the dance floor with Mr. Bennet and Will. Mr. Bennet was the first to speak, starting his speech on how lucky Charles was to have Jane for a wife, how caring and lovey she was, how their marriage would be a long and happy one and then he toasted the newlyweds and everyone joined in, raising their glasses of champagne in the air before sipping.

Then it was Will's turn for the best man's speech.

"On behalf of Charles and Jane, I'd like to thank everyone who came to celebrate their marriage with them. I'm Will, the best man. I've known Charles since we were kids and we attended boarding school together. When Charles first started a relationship with Jane, he was always telling me how he'd met the most amazing woman on earth, a woman who made him happy, who made him want to be the best version of himself. I always thought that it was impossible to love someone as much as Charles loved Jane, but seeing what the two of them share for myself, I know that Charles wasn't exaggerating about how lovely his new wife is."

There were a few murmurs of 'aww' in the crowd of guests as Will cleared his throat to continue his speech.

"Marriage means different things to different couples but what I'm sure most couples would agree on is that marriage takes a lot of work. Knowing Charles as well as I do, I know that he's one of the most thoughtful and caring people I have the pleasure of knowing and having gotten to know Jane, I can see why my best friend considers himself the luckiest man alive. Both the bride and groom are so alike, both are thoughtful and caring and like to see the best in others, with them being practically the same, I'm sure that your marriage will be an easy and happy one with few arguments."

Elizabeth smiled at Will's speech so far, it was nice to hear him say such nice things about her sister and now her brother-in-law.

"Now, if you'd raise your glasses once again and join me in congratulating the happy couple. To Charles and Jane."

"Charles and Jane." The whole room said in unison.

The band began to play their first song of the evening, with several people going up to dance on the dancefloor as Jane and Charles began their rounds of the tables to talk to their guests and to thank them for being a part of their day.

"So, what's going on with Caroline? Why does she feel the need to gloat about you and Will?" Charlotte asked, looking rather confused.

"I'll fill you in later, it's a long and complicated story." Elizabeth replied quietly.

"Why do you think she brought Will's ex as her wedding guest?" Charlotte mused.

"Little sis, that's an obvious answer," Matthew added, "She's trying to get that blonde back with Will, she's never liked you has she Lizzy?"

Elizabeth shook her head, "No she hasn't. Apparently she's also had feelings for Will but he's always turned her down." She agreed quietly.

Matthew looked in the direction of Charles's sister, who was sitting on the far side of the marquee drinking a glass of champagne whilst in deep conversation with Eleanor.

"I can't say I blame him; she hasn't got much sense in terms of her wardrobe." Matthew tutted.

"I'm surprised you haven't had a heart attack yet over her choice of dress." Charlotte muttered.

Matthew looked at his little sister and clutched his arm dramatically.

"Must…take…. her…shopping…immediately!" Matthew gasped.

Elizabeth laughed.

"She looks like a bogey!" Rose piped up.

"I think Rose has it spot on." Charlotte giggled.

They carried on chatting amongst themselves, with Rose going up to share a dance with Charles on the dancefloor as Elizabeth sat in her seat to watch. She noticed that William had walked over to the table that Eleanor and Caroline were sitting at and seconds later, exited the marquee with Eleanor. It was time for their plan to play out and she could only hope, as her heart hammered away with nerves, that it would go the way that she and Will wanted.

ooOoo

"Where are we going, Fitzwilliam?" Eleanor asked, almost complainingly.

"Inside the house, I need to talk to you." Will replied.

Ever since his ex's arrival at the wedding reception, Eleanor had been trying to get his attention but he hadn't had the time until now to take her to one side to talk. What with the pictures being taken by the photographer and then having to deliver his best man's speech, he had to wait. But now that he was free, he decided to get the talk with Eleanor out of the way.

The two of them walked into the house, heading inside the living room.

"I can't tell you how happy I am that you're willing to talk to me, there's a lot that I have to say." Eleanor breathed happily.

Will sat on the sofa, looking at her with an eyebrow raised.

"You aren't the only one with a lot to say." He replied.

Eleanor sat down next to him, trying to take his hand but he pulled it away from her grasp.

"You're still angry, I understand." She muttered.

"Of course I'm still angry with you. How could I not be?" Will snapped.

Eleanor blinked, her eyes slightly watery.

"Fitzwilliam, you have to let me explain-"

"Explain what? I already know that you kept my father's deception a secret and my child's existence a secret because you were scared and didn't want me running back to Elizabeth. But I think that there's some other things that you need to explain." Will said angrily.

Eleanor blinked, "Like what?" she asked.

"Let's think. How about that ever since I broke up with you, you've been scheming with Caroline to try and win me back. How you hired and paid a snake like George Wickham to seduce Elizabeth, even though you were fully aware that Wickham raped my cousin. How about that when Wickham left, you and Caroline plotted to kidnap my daughter at my best friend's wedding reception in order to split me and Elizabeth up."

Eleanor turned pale from the shock that William knew what she and Caroline had been up to for all this time.

"I-I-I d-don't know what to say…" Eleanor stammered.

"I think you've done enough. Just for the record though, Elizabeth and I aren't over. We staged a break-up in order to protect our daughter from coming to any harm at your hands. I don't love you, I ended our relationship for several reasons and instead of moving on and accepting my decision not to be with you, you sought out to hurt me and my family. I love Elizabeth, I want to be with her because she doesn't pressure me like you did, she accepts my decisions and wants me to think for myself and do things that will make _me_ happy."

"Fitzwilliam, please-"

"And whilst we're still talking, you should know that your 'friend' isn't who you think she is."

Eleanor looked confused all of a sudden.

"Do you mean Caroline?" she asked.

Will nodded, "Caroline has always harboured feelings for me. Her decision to help you to try and get me back wasn't so that you and I could be reunited, she had her own agenda. I believe that she was hoping that I would reject you once and for all, humiliate you in front of the people in attendance tonight and then she could swoop in and claim me for herself. The weekend I helped her move into her house, she tried and failed to seduce me, friends wouldn't do that if they were genuinely trying to help you be reunited with me. What you and Caroline fail to realise is that I'm not some prize in a fight or competition, I'm a person. I can't help who I fell in love with but you should know that you need to choose your friends a little better. Caroline Bingley is just as bad as George Wickham, just as bad as you." He stated.

He left her sat on the sofa, allowing her to process what he said as he exited the room; waiting just outside the door and pulled out his phone.

ooOoo

Caroline sat at her table drinking her glass of champagne as she watched several people in attendance at her brother's wedding reception dance away on the dancefloor, laughing and having the time of their lives. Her new sister-in-law was amongst the dancers, dancing with two of her younger sisters and smiling in the direction of the photographer who was going around taking photographs at random; clicking away as people behaved naturally instead of painting a smile on their ridiculous faces.

She didn't understand why her brother loved Jane so much. Of course, she always knew that Jane was a lovely woman and had much in common with Charles but she felt her brother could always do better when it came to being related to the Bennet family. Then there was Eliza and her little brat, the little brat who had thrown cheesy biscuits down her bra at the start of the wedding reception. Darcy's daughter was sharing a third dance with Charles whilst Eliza and Charlotte Lucas were getting a drink from the bar. It seemed like Eliza was trying to move on from Darcy, since the two had barely spoken since their break-up.

Her phone beeped, alerting her to a text message.

 _Come inside the house. Need to talk to you. D._

Caroline smiled to herself at the unexpected text from Darcy, he must have spoken with Eleanor and told her once and for all that he wasn't interested in getting back together with her. Now all that was left to do was ensure that Darcy stayed away from Eliza for the rest of the night, and she thought that the perfect way to do that was to show Darcy her old bedroom.

Rising from the chair, she made her way through the crowd of guests and exited the marquee, running all the way to the house to get out of the cold a lot quicker. When she reached the back entrance of the entrance hall from the terrace, she slipped inside and saw Darcy was waiting for her.

"Darcy, I got your message. Is everything okay?" Caroline asked.

He looked at her coldly, shaking his head in reply.

"Not really, I need to talk to you." He replied.

"What is it?"

But Darcy didn't speak straight away, instead she heard footsteps behind her. Caroline turned around to see her brother and Eliza stood there, both looking absolutely furious.

"Darcy?" Caroline questioned.

"It's over Caroline." Charles stated angrily.

She felt a sort of sinking feeling as she looked round to face her brother. Charles had always had a forgiving nature and in the past she knew that she could pull any crap and be forgiven for it, but the look on Charles's face told her that he knew something that she had done and this time, there would be no forgiveness.

"Enlighten me, what do you know?" Caroline asked her brother.

"We know that you've plotted with Eleanor under the pretense that you were helping her to try and reunite with Will. We know that you tried to seduce him when he helped you move house and we know that you told Eleanor to get George Wickham to come here to harm Elizabeth. We know that you plotted with Eleanor to make Rose disappear and for all these things, I'm ashamed and disgusted to call you my sister." Charles replied bitterly.

She felt shocked that her brother had said such harsh words to her. How had they found out?

"How do you know about all of this?" Caroline muttered.

"Because Wickham grassed us up!" Eleanor shrieked, coming out of the living room.

Turning around, she was met with the furious look from the woman who had been foolish enough to believe that she was helping her.

"And you backed him up I take it?" Caroline asked.

Eleanor nodded, "I confirmed that we had been plotting for weeks to try and get me and Fitzwilliam back together. I just didn't think that you would ever use me for your own motives. You were supposed to be my friend Carrie, you supported my desire to get Fitzwilliam back but instead you were working behind my back, you selfish bitch!" she shrieked.

The next thing she knew, Eleanor had lunged at her and was scratching her face, her arms, hitting her in any place that she could reach before the blonde was dragged backwards by Darcy. Caroline had never felt more humiliated in her life.

"Both of you are going to leave my house and never come back here." Charles demanded.

"Charles….I'm your sister…..we're family…and that means we don't turn our backs on each other." Caroline replied.

"You plotted to kidnap a three-year-old child! My niece! An innocent child all because you couldn't take Darcy's rejection and wanted to have another go at trying to win him over. How can I trust you? You don't deserve to be a part of mine and Jane's lives, or your future niece or nephew's!" Charles shouted.

"But…But-"

"Get out. You and you're pathetic little friend! I'm done with you." Charles spat.

Feeling furious, she watched as Eleanor left the house in fury. Everything that she had tried to plan over the last several weeks had been for nothing. It really did seem that Eliza Bennet had sunk her claws deep into Darcy that the man wouldn't be seeing sense when it came to that awful woman.

But just before she was able to leave, Eliza called her name. Stopping in her tracks, she faced her rival for the last time that night.

"What do you want, Eliza?" Caroline muttered.

Eliza looked furious.

"If you ever try to come between Will and me again, if you ever try to plot to cause any form of harm to my daughter, I'll break your neck and leave you to rot!" Eliza hissed.

ooOoo

Elizabeth watched as Caroline glared at her and stormed out of the house and breathed a sigh of relief. All day she had been dreading this moment but now it had finally come, with no embarrassment caused in the marquee in front of the guests to ruin the wedding reception. The whole situation had been handled appropriately but most importantly, Rose had been kept safe during the whole ordeal.

"I'm sorry Charlie." Elizabeth muttered.

Charles gave her a weak smile.

"It's fine Lizzy, don't worry. Jane kept Rose safe so we could come and deal with Caroline and Eleanor and now we can go back to the party so I can deliver my toast to my new wife."

Charles headed off in the direction of the terrace to rejoin the reception, leaving the two of them standing alone in the entrance hall.

"It went as we wanted it to." Will said quietly.

She stepped closer to him and wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled.

"It did but I couldn't help but feel nervous."

"I know. But now it's over and done with, so can we go back to the reception and listen to Charles's toast to Jane and then I think it's time we shared a dance."

Elizabeth grinned, "I think that sounds lovely." She whispered.

Pressing her lips to his, she kissed him slowly before pulling away and leading him back to the wedding reception, both feeling more than relieved that they wouldn't have to closely watch what Caroline or Eleanor were up to.

Charles was already half way through his speech about Jane when they stepped back into the marquee, with the new bride crying tears of joy at the words her new husband was saying about her.

"I could go on all night telling you all how much I love Jane; how much she means to me but I think I've already done that for the most part. I'm the luckiest man alive to be married to such a beautiful and thoughtful woman. But there's something else that I would like to share with you all tonight. In six months time, Jane and I will be welcoming our first child together." Charles finished.

There was gasps and claps as the guests joined Charles in raising their glasses to Jane before the happy couple were pulled in for hugs and celebratory hand shakes. The band starting playing a new song, where Elizabeth was led on to the dance floor by her boyfriend, his arms wrapping around her waist as hers moved to his neck and they began to sway slowly to the slow song.

"I love you, Elizabeth Bennet, you know that?" Will whispered into her ear.

She looked up into his warm brown eyes, seeing the adoration and love there that she had always seen and nodded.

"I do and I hope you know that I love you too." Elizabeth replied.

Will smiled, pulling her closer.

"I've never stopped. Charles and Jane aren't the only happiest people on earth."

"I have to agree there, I'm pretty darn happy right now." Elizabeth smiled.

But just as Will moved his head down to capture her lips in another kiss, there was a lot of yelling coming from the entrance to the marquee. The music stopped, the crowd of guests parted until the man that had been doing all of the yelling came stumbling on to the dance floor; stopping in front of them.

With his hair a mess, his tie done up wrongly and his suit covered in what looked like vomit, stood Reginald Darcy. Only, he didn't look as she remembered him from their last meeting. His skin had a yellowish tint to it, he looked tired as if he hadn't slept properly in months and generally looked quite weak. The once proud man who had forced her to leave his Chelsea home was gone, this one was someone she didn't recognise, this man was someone who looked like he had given up on everything, given up on life.

"Fitzwilliam..." the man breathed with a wheeze.

But before either Elizabeth or William had a chance to talk to Reginald, the man started coughing hard. Reginald was coughing so hard that he collapsed to the floor, blood and vomit hurling violently out of his mouth until he lay on the floor, losing consciousness.


	24. Chapter 24

**A / N:** So here's the next chapter and this is split into two parts. This one, deals with the aftermath of Reginald's collapse whilst part two will see a much needed talk between father and son and will be posted within the next two weeks.

Thanks for the reviews, please keep them coming :)

* * *

The guests were panicking at the sight of a collapsed Reginald Darcy on the dance floor. William had fallen to his knees, trying to check that his father had a pulse. Georgiana had rushed through the crowd, talking to Reginald as if trying to check he could hear her. Charles was on his mobile, calling for an ambulance whilst the guests were told to clear the way for the paramedic.

"Dad…help is on the way." William muttered quietly to his father.

Elizabeth didn't know what to do. She was in shock, something had clearly happened to Reginald for him to collapse the way he did. Just looking at William's father, it was clear that the man was very unwell and needed urgent medical attention.

Jane had asked Mr. Bennet to take Rose into the house as the ambulance arrived, the paramedics walking through the cleared path that the guests had made by pushing the tables to the far sides of the marquee. One of the paramedics knelt down next to Will, asking questions and making initial observations on Reginald.

"Has your father been unwell, Mr. Darcy?" the other paramedic asked William.

"I don't know; we haven't been on talking terms in recent months." William replied.

The paramedics looked at each other, with the one who was carrying out initial checks on Reginald announced that he needed to be checked over due to the yellowing of his skin and the fact he had vomited up blood. It was as the paramedics were strapping Reginald to the transport bed that William turned back to her.

"Lizzy, I have to go." William whispered.

Elizabeth nodded her understanding, despite everything that Reginald had done to the two of them; he was still Will's father and her boyfriend had to make sure that his father would be okay.

"Go, I hope everything turns out okay." She replied.

"You're sure it's okay?" William asked.

"Will, you don't need to ask my permission. Go with your father and check in with us later, I'll take care of everything here." She answered with a small smile.

With a quick kiss to her forehead, she watched him leave the marquee and climb into the back of the ambulance just as a man and woman showed up and briefly said something to William before they headed back towards the house with Georgiana. Elizabeth watched as the paramedic shut the doors before heading back to the driver's seat, hoping that everything would be okay.

ooOoo

Sitting in the hospital waiting room, Will yawned and closed his eyes for a brief moment. His wore his suit from the wedding reception, his tie undone and hanging around his neck as his nostrils were filled with the smell of apples that Georgie used in her shampoo. His sister slept soundly in the chair next to him, her blonde curly hair loose around her face as her head rested on his shoulder.

 _At least one of us is getting some sleep._ He thought to himself.

In the chair opposite him sat Alice Reynolds, the woman he had grown up knowing and who had looked after him and helped raise him when his mother had died from cancer during his teenage years. The woman who he had considered as family. But ever since the wedding reception which his father had unexpectedly burst into, he couldn't help but feel guilty. Alice looked exhausted as he observed her, she looked stressed out and now he knew why.

After his father had collapsed at the reception, Alice and Norman had not been long behind him. It was as the ambulance showed up and the paramedics had strapped Reginald to the bed to put him in the back of the ambulance that the two showed up at the reception, and then came the explanation of what had been going on at Pemberley since his exit from his family home. Alice explained how his father had been drinking heavily, how he had become ill and had been diagnosed with cirrhosis and how, now, it looked like things had taken a turn for the worse.

Checking his watch, he saw that it was nearly four in the morning and he sighed heavily.

"Fitzwilliam, someone will be along soon." Alice assured him.

"I don't understand Alice. Why didn't you tell me sooner?" he asked.

"I tried, I called you remember? Only I didn't want to explain over the phone that your father was putting himself into an early grave." Alice replied.

The phone call that he had hung up on.

"I'm sorry, I just-"

"You don't need to apologise or explain Fitzwilliam, I understand. You thought that your father was using me to get you to come home." Alice said with a small smile.

"It was rude of me." Will stated.

"And I should have come to Netherfield in person to explain to you about your father's condition, so for that I apologise."

"I just don't understand; how can he have cirrhosis? I mean, I know he likes his whiskey, I've always seen him enjoy a glass during dinner or the late evening, I've seen him drink alcohol at parties but it's not like that would be enough to cause so much damage to his liver!"

Alice shifted uncomfortably in her seat and exhaled heavily.

"Fitzwilliam, it's time you knew the truth about your father."

"What is it?" William asked.

"Your father has always had a battle when it came to alcohol. His own father died of liver failure because of alcoholism and hitting the bottle was always his way of coping when something bad happened. Because of this, the amount of alcohol and falling off the wagon on and off over the years has taken its toll on his liver."

Will didn't know whether to believe it or not, he had never known about his father's struggles with being an alcoholic.

"But…surely I would have known something about it." He muttered.

Alice shook her head, "The last time he fell off the wagon was when your mother died. He shut himself away from the world and left the caring of you and Georgiana to me and the staff at Pemberley. Most days the staff had to carry him to his suite whilst we kept you and Georgiana occupied, of course you were at boarding school so you weren't around the house as much as Georgiana." She replied.

"What happened?"

"Georgiana cut herself quite badly which resulted in a trip to A&E, your father saw sense and eventually started to drink in moderation. He was devastated at losing your mother, it didn't change him for the better."

"That's when he started having these dreams of how my life would go. When Mum died, about a year after he started stating how I would carry on the family tradition of attending Cambridge, settle down with a nice woman from a similar background, take over the family business and inherit the estate, have a couple of kids. When I was first with Eleanor, he really pushed for me to make those dreams of his come true." Will sighed.

"I think he needed something to focus on and he chose to focus on your futures. The way he went about it isn't necessarily the right way but everyone makes mistakes Fitzwilliam, even parents." Alice said.

He found himself feeling angry again, but was he supposed to still feel angry with his father? In a way he sort of felt guilty, it had been his decision to turn his back on his father and Georgiana refusing to return Reginald's phone calls that led their father back to the bottle. But before he even had a chance to talk more about the situation with Alice, the doctors came round to announce how Reginald was doing.

As the doctor spoke to the three of them, William tried to take in the news. It was then he knew that he had some decisions to make and the life he had wanted to build with Lizzy might not go the way they wanted.

ooOoo

It was some time around six in the morning that his father regained consciousness. For the first time in his life, William saw a different side to his father that didn't resemble the man who, for years, had pushed him into doing the things that he wanted him to do.

"What are you doing here?" Reginald grumbled, with a dry throat.

"You showed up at Bingley's wedding reception and collapsed after vomiting blood." Will stated.

William passed his father a cup of water which his father gulped from quickly.

"What's the verdict then?" Reginald asked.

"You need a transplant. You need rehab. You need to stop drinking or you'll be dead within the next few months." William replied curtly.

His father sighed heavily and shrugged, Will couldn't understand how his father could have a not caring attitude towards his health.

"The doctor told us that you have developed an infection and have developed varices in your oesophagus that required urgent attention, hence why I've been sat in the hospital waiting room with Georgie and Mrs. Reynolds and missed out on the rest of my best friend's wedding reception."

"Well you can go back to the party now Fitzwilliam."

"I can't. Not now that I know what you've been battling your whole life."

Reginald grunted as he sat up a little in his bed, wincing in pain.

"I suppose I can thank the nurses for the pain relief." Reginald muttered.

"Dad, this is serious. You need to get better and I'm going to help-"

"I don't want your help." Reginald shouted.

A nurse poked her head around the door and inquired if everything was okay. Will said that it was fine and the nurse left the room. Turning back to his father, he sighed heavily.

"Why would you want to help me? You made it perfectly clear that I was dead to you, so why not just let me get on with putting myself in an early grave?" Reginald spat.

Will shook his head in disgust.

"I don't particularly want to help you, if I'm being honest. But after the doctors left once they told us you were in recovery, Georgie got upset. She's been crying her eyes out because she thinks that she's going to lose you, the only parent she's ever really known. Despite the fact you've majorly pissed her off, she's still your little girl and she needs her father. Despite everything you've done to me, to Elizabeth, I promised my little sister that I would be there to help you get better."

Reginald narrowed his eyes as he looked at him, "So she took you back did she?" his father hissed.

"We love each other, no matter what you've done or try to do to us, I won't stop loving her."

"Well she won't like it when you tell her that you want to help me."

"That's my business."

"As I said, Fitzwilliam, I don't want your help or your pity."

"You might be too proud to ask for my help but you owe it to me and you owe it to Georgiana to get better. Regardless of what has happened between us, I don't want my own father to die like this." William said softly.

Standing from his seat, William checked his watch and decided that he needed to get back to Netherfield to get some rest and he knew that it would be best for his father to think about what had been said between the two of them.

"I'll be back later after we've all rested. I'll ask Norman to go back to Pemberley to pack you some clothes, you'll be in hospital for a while so that your infection can be treated and so that a liver specialist can help us determine the next course of action."

His father said nothing but merely grunted in reply and William left the room. It had been a long night and now that he had spoken to his father about the issue, he needed to go back to Netherfield, get some sleep and speak to Elizabeth. His father's illness meant that things between them might change.

Georgiana and Mrs. Reynolds were still sat in the waiting room for him, both turned when he sat down opposite them and rubbed his forehead.

"What did he say?" Georgiana asked desperately.

"He's reluctant to accept my help and I imagine that he's going to be rather stubborn from this point forward." William replied.

"So what happens now?" his sister asked.

William sighed, "We have to get him sober first of all and see what the liver specialist says regarding his transplant. But I promised you that I would help him, Georgie, and I will." He replied.

Georgiana smiled, "Thank you, Will, for doing this for me. What are you going to say to Elizabeth?"

Will shrugged as the three of them left the waiting room, all he knew was that he was going to be honest with her about everything that had happened since he had left the wedding reception the night before and hope that it wasn't the end of their relationship.

ooOoo

Elizabeth was sat in the living room at Netherfield, having finally been able to sit down since she took over making sure that the cleaning up for the wedding reception got done. She felt exhausted, having not been able to sleep properly last night because of the unexpected arrival of Will's father and then her boyfriend having to go to hospital with Reginald and Georgiana to see what was going on. During the course of the night she and Will had text a few times but she hadn't heard from him since after three o'clock in the morning.

Rose was busy watching one of her new DVD's that she had been gifted for Christmas when William and Georgiana returned. Elizabeth left the living room and greeted everyone in the entrance hall, with Mrs. Reynolds and Georgiana heading upstairs to the bedrooms to get some sleep.

"Is everything okay?" Elizabeth asked.

Will shook his head as he gestured for the two of them to go and sit in the dining room.

"My father has cirrhosis due to the fact he's hidden his problem with alcohol from me and Georgie since we were kids. He's got an infection which is being treated in hospital and he's developed varices in his oesophagus which caused him to vomit up the blood and he had to undergo a procedure to treat it and prevent my fat

her from vomiting or coughing up more blood." Will began.

Elizabeth's eyes widened, "Your father's an alcoholic?" she asked.

"Apparently."

"So what happens now with his liver?"

"He needs to get sober and go into rehab. He needs a liver transplant but I'll need to speak to a liver specialist to determine what happens next with his treatment. My father doesn't want my help but I'm hoping that after stating he owes it to me and Georgie to get better, he'll take my words to heart." William explained.

"I'm sorry Will. If I hadn't told you what he did to me, then this wouldn't have happened." Elizabeth apologised.

Will looked angry, "Don't you dare apologise for telling me the truth, Elizabeth. I needed to know and I'm not sorry that you told me. I doubt you could have prevented this from happening, from what Alice has said, he's always battled with this even when he had a low point and he certainly disapproved of me coming to visit Rose long before you told me."

"So what happens once you speak to the liver specialist?"

William sighed, "I promised Georgie that I would help him so it might mean that I go back to Pemberley and help him recover."

It didn't surprise her that he would help his father, she knew that he would regardless of what had happened in the past.

"Well then, whatever happens I'll support you."

What she had said surprised him. By the look on his face, William looked a little stunned.

"I don't expect you to have any involvement with my father-"

"I know that. But what's the alternative?"

"Something which neither of us wants."

"Exactly. I'm not going to break up with you because you want to help your dad get better, it wouldn't make me an understanding girlfriend and nor would it show that I love you more than anything. I'm not saying that it won't be hard, considering that your father despises me." said Elizabeth.

"Lizzy, you don't need to have any interaction with him whatsoever. We'll work something out once I know more of what's happening. I feel like I have to help him, he's my dad after all. But I promise you that our plans won't change, the moment that my father is capable of looking after himself, we'll do everything that we've discussed." Will replied.

"I'll hold you to that." Elizabeth whispered.

William smiled down at her, rising from his seat and pulling her to her feet.

"You and Rose matter the most to me and once my father is out of hospital, I'll be having a discussion with him about you and Rose, I'll make him aware that you two are my life now and he needs to accept it." said William softly.

Elizabeth smiled in return and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, sighing happily as she felt his lips meet the pulse point of her neck, kissing her in that teasing pace that she loved. But although she could feel herself starting to get the need to be with him physically, the loud yawn that escaped her boyfriend's lips made her rethink that idea.

"Up to bed with you and sleep." she laughed.

Releasing him, he gave her a quick kiss before disappearing out of the dining room. Elizabeth listened as his footsteps gradually got quieter until she couldn't hear him at all and guessed he had reached the bedroom that they shared. Sighing to herself, she sat back down for a few minutes; wondering just how hard it might be to face Reginald Darcy again.


	25. Chapter 25

**A / N:** Thank you to those of you who reviewed chapter 24, this one is the one that will see a much needed talk between father and son.

Chapter 26 will be written and posted within the next two weeks from today.

* * *

After only having about six hours of sleep, Will returned to the local hospital in the mid-afternoon on the twenty-ninth. When he arrived, he learned from the doctor that a liver specialist wouldn't be able to see them until the second of January which was only a few days away, so in the meantime his father would be staying at the hospital in Watford on the drip so that the infection could clear up.

It was as the doctor left Reginald's room that Will turned to face his father, there was a lot that the two of them needed to talk about.

"So, what do you think about what the doctor said?" Will asked.

Reginald grunted, "I think I need a drink." His father muttered.

William tutted, "Didn't you listen to what I said to you this morning?" he asked.

"Of course I did, Fitzwilliam. You believe that I owe it to you and Georgiana to get better." Reginald replied bitterly.

"And?"

"I want to have my children back but I don't know where to start." His father admitted.

"There's a lot you need to do." William replied.

Reginald sighed, "If I went to rehab, got sober, had the transplant and never touched another drop of alcohol for the rest of my life, would that be enough to make amends?"

"Not really but it's a start." William replied honestly.

There was a moment of silence between father and son as Reginald took in his son's words before nodding curtly. William didn't know where to start with his father, he wasn't entirely sure if they could ever have a relationship again because of Reginald's past misdeeds that were, at the moment, unforgivable.

"Fitzwilliam, you left Pemberley. You turned your back on me all those months ago and we haven't spoken a word to each other since your departure. What do I have to do to have you back in my life?" Reginald questioned.

"Like I said, rehab and getting sober would be a start but it's also because I promised Georgie that I would help you, she needs you dad. But it's not just about getting yourself physically better. You've done things that have hurt me, have hurt the woman I love and whether she knows it or not, you hurt my daughter and there is a lot we need to talk about." William stated.

"How have I hurt your daughter?" Reginald asked.

"By preventing me from knowing about her, Rose went the first three and half years without a father and I'll never get to experience all those firsts that she had in life. I have this amazing little girl, she's so curious and so funny, she has her own little personality but for the rest of my life, I'll know that it was you who prevented me from helping her learn to walk or watching her reach those other important milestones. That's how you've hurt her. You decided to keep her father away from her when she deserved to know who her daddy was." William answered.

Reginald sighed, "What do you want me to say?" his father muttered.

"I want to know from your point of view why you drink because I don't really understand it. I want to know why you changed into the person you are because the father I had before mum died wasn't the one who pushed for me to live my life the way you wanted me to live it. I want to know why you deemed Elizabeth not good enough for me."

"So not much then?" Reginald asked sarcastically.

"Don't I have the right to want to ask so much of you? You deliberately kept my daughter a secret from me and you kept Elizabeth from me as well and there has to be more to it than the fact that Elizabeth is from a different background than me. You have so much that you need to explain." William said through gritted teeth.

Another silence, this one a little tenser than the last. William took a few deep breaths to try and calm down, he didn't want to get angry. He didn't want to feel frustrated. When he had entered the main entrance to the hospital he had silently promised himself that he would talk to his father like a calm and mature adult without getting angry or shouting at him.

"Where do you want me to start?" Reginald questioned.

"At the beginning."

"We'll be here all night!"

"I don't care. I _need_ to know."

Reginald stared off into space, it was as if the old man didn't want to look at his son while he spoke.

"It all started when I was a teenager. My father always liked a drink. Pemberley was in ruin and our family nearly lost everything and my father's way of coping with everything bad was to hit the bottle. When I was fourteen, I heard my parents arguing so badly that I had to hide in the wine cellar. I could hear bottles being smashed, my parents screaming at each other so loudly and so violently that I wanted to shut it all out. Being in that wine cellar, I opened one of the bottles and finished the entire lot, before I finished another. And then another. By the time my parents had stopped arguing, I had finished five bottles of wine by myself and I passed out in the wine cellar." Reginald began.

William didn't say anything, just watched as his father continued to tell him where the drinking all began.

"Well that's how I became dependent on alcohol. Whenever my parents would argue, I would lock myself away in my suite or somewhere secluded within Pemberley with the whiskey I had stolen from my father's study or a bottle of wine from the wine cellar and drink until I could forget that my parents were arguing or I seemed a little merrier than the miserable being that I was when I was in the house with my parents who didn't love each other."

Reginald cleared his throat and reached for the small jug of water on the table, gesturing for William to pour them both a cup. William took the jug from his father, pouring Reginald a drink of water before handing him the cup. His father drank it slowly, absentmindedly swirling the water round in the cup just like he used to do with his whiskey.

"It got a little better when I moved away to Cambridge for university. I was away from all the arguing and for the first time since I was fourteen, I could breathe and not worry about whether my mother would have a black eye or be covered in bruises, or wondering if my mother had thrown another glass or bottle at my father which had caused him to have those cuts and grazes. I met your mother at university, I fell in love. I deeply loved her, she became the light in my dark life and you know the rest. We got married, my father died because his alcoholism caused his liver to fail and I inherited everything. It wasn't long after that that my mother passed away and then your mother gave birth to you and we lived happily. Georgie came along and still, we lived happily and then your mother started getting these headaches."

Reginald gulped down another mouthful of water, his eyes filling with tears.

"We found out from her brain scans that she had developed an untreatable cancer and that it was starting to spread to other organs. Your mother was told that any treatment she received would only prolong the inevitable, that it would make her feel weaker and tired. She decided against receiving treatment, deciding to spend her remaining days with me, you and Georgie."

William felt a knot in his chest, he felt like crying with his father. He hadn't known that his mother had decided to turn down the cancer treatment.

"But she might have had a little more time with us if she had taken the treatment." William muttered.

Reginald sniffed, "She didn't want you to remember her as weak, Fitzwilliam. She wanted you and Georgie to only remember her as the smiling, loving mother that she always was. Especially you as you were so much older than Georgie was when she died." His father replied.

Another pause took place before Reginald cleared his throat and began talking again.

"When she passed away, I lost a part of myself. When you really love someone, the way I deeply loved your mother, they become a part of you. Your mother and I were together from the age of eighteen until she passed away, a long time we spent together and we were so, so happy. The light of my life had gone out and I was surrounded by darkness that hitting the bottle was my way of coping with daily life again."

"Alice told me that you shut yourself away from everyone. That you left Georgie to be looked after by her and me when I came home on the weekends for visits. She always used to say that you were busy with the business or away with business associates." William sighed.

"Alice didn't want you to know the truth, she thought it would be too painful for you and your sister to see me in that state and she was right. You had just lost your mother and the last thing you needed was to see me drinking myself to death." Reginald stated.

"She's like a second mother, she really cares about all of us."

"It was Alice Reynolds who gave me a reality check after your mother died. Georgiana managed to get into my study while Norman and a few of the other lads were taking me to my suite and before Alice could get a cleaner into the study, Georgiana had cut herself on a bottle that I had broken. It required a trip to A&E and several stitches to get the cut healed. When Alice returned back to the house with Georgie, she gave me a rather harsh telling off."

"What did she say to you?"

"That if I didn't get my act together and stop drinking so heavily, then I would lose the only two things left in the world that Anne had given me. I had two children who needed me, a boy who was away at boarding school and was too young to inherit the estate and a little girl aged only four who was the spitting image of her mother. So I did as she asked, I dialed down the amount I was drinking and I started spending more time with you and Georgiana." Reginald replied.

"And that's when you started thinking about what you wanted for our futures."

Reginald nodded, "The future for you and Georgie became my new focus for my life. I wanted you both to attend Cambridge, qualify, do a masters degree and then learn to run the family business. I wanted you, as my heir, to meet someone at university like I had your mother and love her as deeply as I had felt when I was with your mother. I wanted you to live the same way as I had, only minus the part about having the knowledge and burden of an alcoholic father." His father explained.

William took in his father's words, having gotten an explanation of sorts which made him understand why his father was the way he was. But there was still a lot more that he needed to know.

"So when I met Eleanor, you approved of her."

"I did," Reginald confirmed, "Eleanor, like your mother, came from the same background that we had been raised in. We both came from families that were from old money, we both had a family name that meant something. Your relationship with Eleanor was the same in the sense of when I first starting dating your mother and she seemed to really love you, and you her."

"I did, to begin with. But Eleanor was always trying to dictate the way I had to live my life. The weekends were all about what she wanted us to do when I would rather laze about at home and watch the TV or go out and play a sport if I wanted to. Eleanor was always planning our future together when I wasn't ready to have those things. It was something that always caused us to go our separate ways in the end."

"But you still went back to her every time?" Reginald questioned.

"She was…familiar I suppose. We had a history and while I will never deny that I loved her at a point in my life, I knew the difference between what I had felt for Eleanor and the love I feel for Elizabeth." William explained.

"Elizabeth." His father said sharply.

They were at this point in the conversation where they needed to talk about his relationship with Elizabeth and everything else that had happened and William hoped that he could make it through the next part of the conversation as calmly as he had regarding the explanation behind his father's drinking and obsession with his life.

"Why did you disapprove of her? It has to be more than the fact that she doesn't have the same connections in the world that we do."

"It's partly that. Nobody that we associate with would know her family, she's a stranger and not from old money. Can you imagine what your Aunt Catherine would be like if you took her to Rosings?"

Will grimaced, he knew exactly what Catherine would do and say if he ever took Elizabeth and Rose to meet his old fashioned Aunt. Not that he was planning on doing so any time soon, he rarely saw his Aunt ever since the whole thing with Anne had happened, he left the visiting to Richard.

"Exactly. When you came home from Spain with this girl who was the complete opposite to Eleanor, I thought you were making a mistake by being with her. I thought she was using you to get a huge payout, that she would dig her claws into you and then leave you high and dry. But most of all, I believed that Eleanor was the girl you were supposed to be with and Elizabeth was deliberately keeping you from her and that picture that I had of you having a deep love like I had with your mother was being threatened. I always pictured you and Eleanor whenever I had that picture in my head and Elizabeth was a threat to all of that." Reginald explained.

"So because Elizabeth threatened the life you had planned for me you were plotting ways of how to get rid of her?" William asked.

Reginald nodded, "I was," he replied, "And when I found out that she had taken a pregnancy test and was expecting your child, I saw an opportunity."

"To separate a couple who loved each other?"

"I didn't see it like that, you know I didn't. But yes, I saw an opportunity to keep you apart and you know the rest and if it wasn't for Charles Bingley marrying Elizabeth's sister, you might have gone the rest of your life without knowing of my deception."

"I don't see how. Say hypothetically, I had been ignorant of Rose's existence, you forget that I found that file in the London house safe with Richard. I most likely would have learned about Rose eventually, the safe is filled with information that I might need to pull out on the day you die." William replied.

Reginald sighed, "Is there anything else you want to know?" his father asked.

"I think we've pretty much covered the explanation to your behaviour of everything I wanted to know about." William replied.

"Where do we go from here?" Reginald questioned.

William hesitated at his father's question. He didn't know where they could go from here, even though he knew the truth behind his father's behaviour; he knew that he couldn't just forgive his father for everything bad Reginald had done to him. He couldn't just automatically forgive his father just because Reginald was ill with cirrhosis.

"Dad, whilst I'm glad that you were able to tell me everything that I needed to know, I can't just forgive you." William stated.

Reginald nodded again, "I understand. What do you need from me?"

"I've already said that I would help you get better, whatever it takes to make that happen. But if we're going to be a part of each other's lives again, you don't just need to get sober and have the transplant. You need to accept that I'm with Elizabeth, for good. You have to accept that she and Rose are my life and you need to apologise; to me, to Elizabeth for everything you've done."

"Very well. I apologise-"

"Not right now. I need you to see how important Elizabeth and Rose are to me because by seeing them with me, only then will you truly understand how wrong you were." William interrupted.

"Okay son. I'll try and make an effort with Elizabeth and I will apologise in due course. If it means having to see for myself that keeping you from Elizabeth Bennet and your daughter was a mistake, then that's what I'll do." Reginald promised.

William smiled gratefully, "It's going to take a lot of hard work but maybe we can build a better relationship from this. We can't lose you just yet dad."

"Just the thought of having you and Georgie in my life when I thought that the two of you had turned your back on me has given me something positive to focus on after months of negativity." Reginald explained.

"It seems that you've done a lot of thinking since I left you this morning."

"I can't do much else. I'm strapped to this bed until the infection goes away and when I've healed from the procedure." Reginald muttered.

Checking his watch, he saw that it was nearing the end of visiting hours. William rose from his seat and made for the door, turning back to face his father for the last time that evening.

"You're getting a second chance with me and Georgie, dad. I hope that you take it and make amends with us because you won't get a third." William warned.

Reginald sighed, "Like you said, Fitzwilliam, it's going to take a lot of hard work if we're going to have a better relationship after all this mess." His father replied.

William nodded and left the room, hoping that this fresh start for his father wouldn't prove to be the biggest mistake of his life.


	26. Chapter 26

**A / N:** Apologies that this is being posted outside of my two-week window, I've been ill with glandular fever which caused a few complications. But here's chapter twenty-six so please enjoy.

Just a heads up, there's a sex scene. I've written it how I was comfortable writing it so I hope you like it. Please let me know your thoughts. So you've been warned, usual warnings apply.

* * *

The new year came as a quiet celebration for Elizabeth. She had planned on going to the Lucas's party that her family had been invited to but instead she shared a quiet night at Longbourn with Will and Rose. What should have been a good start for them, was now turning into an uncertainty for her. Her boyfriend was feeling the pressures of looking after Netherfield like he had promised Charles as well as taking care of his sick father. Alice had been a help, having asked the deputy housekeeper to keep things running at Pemberley smoothly whilst she continued to stay at Netherfield; taking it in turns with Will to keep Charles's estate running and doing trips to the hospital in order to care for Reginald when Will was feeling too tired or too stressed.

On the 2nd January, they had had a disagreement. Will mentioned that the liver specialist at the hospital in Watford where Reginald was currently being treated was referring him to a liver treatment centre at a hospital in London and would be moving Reginald into Netherfield for the foreseeable future. Elizabeth had refused to move back into Charles's estate with Rose for two reasons: the first being that the next time she wanted to move Rose was when they were choosing their first home together as a family of three because she was worried about how unsettling it would be for their daughter. The second being that, despite feeling a little pity for Will's father, there was no way that she would live under the same roof as Reginald, not after what had happened when she had stayed at the Darcy home in Chelsea all those years ago.

Will thought she was being stubborn, insisting that his father would make amends and that Reginald just needed time to get sorted with his health. Elizabeth said that while she would like to receive a genuine apology from Reginald, she didn't trust the man and stated that he didn't deserve to be a grandfather after his actions. Her boyfriend had left Longbourn in a huff and hadn't spoken to her since.

It had been two days since their argument and with her texts and calls going unanswered, she was starting to worry that she was being unreasonable in regards to Reginald. The man was depending on a liver transplant in order to live longer than his current predicted life span of a few more months but yet, she wasn't ready to forgive Will's father for separating them and causing so much hurt to them both.

When the bell rang that wet and cold January lunch time on the fourth, Lizzy made her way to the staff room to eat lunch alone; not feeling in the mood to share cheery conversation with her work colleagues. Getting her lunch out of her bag, she sat down in one of the empty chairs and started to eat her sandwiches, checking her phone in the process.

 _Why didn't you tell me your dad was picking Rose up from pre-school? W._

Elizabeth sighed, knowing full well that Will hadn't bothered to listen to her voicemails.

 _I left you a message. You've been busy with your father and Netherfield that I didn't want to stress you further._

She had thought that by asking her father to help with the pre-school pickups, it would ease the pressure off of Will a little. In her mind, he was always backwards and forwards to the hospital whilst overseeing the running of Netherfield whilst Charles and Jane were on their honeymoon that she thought that if he felt that he had to stick to their normal routine of picking Rose up most days of the week, it would add to his stress levels.

 _She's my kid too or is it for some other reason?_

 _Like what, exactly?_

She could feel herself getting a little annoyed, it was like he was accusing her of something; at least, that's what it felt like he was doing.

 _You tell me. Maybe you don't trust me ever since I asked you to move back to Netherfield and you found out that Charles was letting my father stay there with me._

Shoving the rest of her half-eaten sandwich into her mouth, she chewed furiously and swallowed the sandwich almost whole. Her anger levels were rising and this really wasn't the way she wanted to sort things with Will. Taking a deep breath, she decided to try to not argue with him via a text message.

 _I do trust you, idiot._

He buzzed back his sulky reply a few minutes later.

 _I'm not an idiot._

 _We need to talk._

 _About what?_

 _Everything. You didn't say what the specialist said, aside from the transfer to the treatment centre, and I think it's bothering you. We need to talk about the future. We need to talk about us._

His next reply didn't come for a few minutes and by the time his reply did come, it was as she was finishing off her pot of grapes.

 _Can I come over tonight?_

 _Sure. Mum and Dad are taking Lydia out for an early birthday meal before a family movie at the cinema. Kitty and Mary are back at uni. We'll have the place to ourselves so our talk won't be interrupted unless Rose has an uneasy sleep._

 _Can I pick you up from work? I want to spend some quality time with the two of you, I've missed you both._

 _Staff meeting until 4.30. Pick me up then?_

 _Sure, see you then._

Putting her phone back inside her bag, Lizzy smiled to herself; happy that she and William would have a chance to talk.

ooOoo

At four-thirty that afternoon, William waited patiently outside the primary school and watched as his girlfriend's colleagues exited the building via the reception. His heart was pounding nervously, he knew that he had been a bit of a prick over the last two days where he hadn't messaged her and he was worried that with her asking that they talk about everything, she might change her mind about that future he had pictured for the two of them.

He saw her a minute later, walking out of the building in deep conversation with Matthew. When she saw him waiting for her, she bade her friend goodbye and walked over to him; stopping just in front of him and giving him an awkward smile. Deciding to stop his nerves from getting to him and to stop the air getting too awkward between him and Lizzy, he bent his head down and pecked her lips lightly. Feeling her return the light kiss made him feel a little reassured; if she was going to end their relationship, she wouldn't have kissed him in return.

"I'm sorry." He whispered.

"Me too, but we'll talk properly once Rose is in bed." Elizabeth replied softly.

Will nodded in agreement and held her hand tightly in his own as the two began to walk down the slope and headed back in the direction for Longbourn. Conversation took place, mostly about Elizabeth's job to now get her year six class prepared for their SATS that were due to take place in May and how she would have to spend most of her time after the school day ended holding booster sessions in Maths and English for the children who were a little behind the others.

"I don't ever remember them being that hard." Will commented.

"You took them like fourteen years ago, they were a lot easier back in our day. I have a group of ten in my own class of thirty who are struggling with their Maths and English and in the other year six class, there's at least another ten. So twenty kids between me and my colleague alternating each afternoon, I'll doubt I'll have a lot of free time during the weekday evenings." Elizabeth replied.

"I'm sure you'll do a great job getting them through their exams."

"It's only been two days since I've been back at work and with all the meetings I've had so far this week, I haven't had time to book my GP appointment."

"Are you unwell?" Will asked, concerned.

"No, nothing like that. My injection was supposed to be done over Christmas but with everything that was going on, I forgot to get it done. I was hoping to be seen this week but it's near on impossible." Elizabeth slightly complained.

"Your injection?" Will asked, a little confused.

"The contraceptive injection." Elizabeth clarified quietly.

"Oh…."

The thought hadn't really occurred to him that his girlfriend was also being safe when it came to their physical relationship. Ever since they had started having sex, they had always been careful with him being responsible and using condoms.

"Do you want to get it done?" he asked her.

Elizabeth frowned, "Well I can't say I enjoy the side effects, whenever I have the injection it makes me feel nauseous and I have period like pain for a few days after." She answered.

"Why don't you stop taking it?" Will suggested.

"And just use condoms?" Elizabeth asked quietly.

Will nodded, thanking himself that nobody was around to overhear their conversation.

"I was thinking more of maybe… seeing if we could give Rose a little brother or sister." He muttered into her ear.

Her eyes widened at his answer to her question and, although he never claimed to be psychic, he knew what was going through her head. The timing wasn't great, his father was ill and needed an operation, she had her job that she had only had for the last two years, Rose would be starting at Meryton Primary in September so having a baby brother or sister as well as starting school were big transitions for their almost four-year-old daughter. But before the whole mess with his father had happened, or at least before he had been aware of said mess with his father, he had told her what he wanted their future to be. Will wanted them to settle into a house with both their names on the deeds, he wanted another two or three children with Lizzy, he wanted a life with her and although he knew that they were going to be doing a lot of talking tonight, he wanted her to know that he still envisioned everything they had discussed over the Christmas period.

"Can we talk about this in more depth later?" Elizabeth asked quietly.

Will nodded his reply as they walked on to the gravel driveway and into the house, with Lizzy announcing their arrival as they took off their coats. Rose came running out of her grandfather's study, covered in paint as she lunged her arms around his neck and hugged her father tightly, before giggling her little head off as some of the wet, green paint that were on her hands got on to Will's face as she placed her hands on his cheeks.

"Have you been painting with grandad?" Lizzy asked with a warm smile.

"Yeah, we did handprints." Rose replied, rather proudly.

They followed Rose into the study to see various pieces of paper around the desk with Mr. Bennet's large handprints on the paper in the colour of red whilst Rose's were next to his in the colour of green.

"Well done Rosie." Will said warmly, ruffling his daughter's curly hair.

Mr. Bennet smiled as he left the three of them alone in the room, heading towards the staircase to shout for Lydia to finish getting ready for their quality time out of the house.

"Grandad says Auntie Jane's gonna have a baby soon." Rose stated.

"She is. In the summer." Lizzy replied.

"After my birthday?"

Will nodded, "After your birthday Rosie. How do you feel about babies?" he asked his daughter.

Rose smiled, "They're okay. Bella's got a boy baby, he's sicky a lot." She replied.

"You mean she has a little brother?" Will asked.

Rose nodded.

"Yeah. Bella says it cries all the time and is stinky."

"Would you like a little brother or sister one day?" Will asked, flashing a grin at Elizabeth.

"Maybe. Will it wear my princess dresses?"

Will laughed, "No, it won't." he answered.

"But you have to marry Mummy first." Rose stated to her father.

"Why's that, Rose?" Elizabeth asked, clearly curious to her daughter's answer.

"'Cause I wanna wear a dress like I wored at Auntie Jane's wedding." Rose replied with a grin.

Both the adults laughed as Mr. Bennet called Rose to go and wash her hands. Rose ran out of the study and they both heard her footsteps on the wooden floorboards as she headed to the kitchen, leaving Will alone with Elizabeth in the study.

"So, I think we'll have Rose on board." Will whispered, wrapping his arms around her waist.

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow.

"We'll talk more about it later when we don't have anyone to overhear us." She replied softly.

Will released his hold on her and followed her out into the hall, saying goodbye to Elizabeth's parents and a rather sulky Lydia. When the other three Bennets had left Longbourn, he asked why Lydia was so grumpy considering it was nearly her birthday, to which Lizzy replied that Lydia was still grounded over everything that had happened with Wickham and how her sister had threatened Rose, therefore her plans of having a party at a friend's house were now cancelled.

They ate a lasagna for dinner that Mrs. Hill had cooked for them, with Rose talking more about the wedding and asking questions about the man who had fallen over on the dance floor.

"Who was he?" Rose asked, just as the three of them finished their dinner.

Both William and Elizabeth froze, looking at each other before Elizabeth nodded that it was okay for him to answer their daughter's question about Reginald.

"He's my dad."

Rose frowned, "Is he poorly?" she asked.

"A little bit, yeah." Will replied.

"What do I call him?"

Will hesitated, he wasn't sure how to answer Rose's last question. He knew that Elizabeth would never allow Rose to call his father 'Grandad' like their daughter called Mr. Bennet and he agreed with her; his father had caused too much hurt to automatically be called Grandad.

"Well his name is Reginald."

Rose frowned, "That's a long name."

"Well you could shorten it if you want, like you did when you first met me?" Will suggested, smiling as Elizabeth nodded that she was okay with that.

"Reggie?" asked Rose.

"Maybe Reg."

Rose started laughing, "Reggie Veggie!"

Will chuckled as Elizabeth smiled in amusement, their daughter certainly had a thing with nicknames.

"I think we'll stick with Reg, okay?"

Rose rolled her eyes, "Okay." His daughter sighed.

The plates were cleared and Rose went upstairs to wash and change into her pyjamas. Will sat in the living room as Elizabeth headed upstairs to tuck Rose in and read her a bedtime story whilst he waited, thinking over everything he had been told by the liver specialist.

Having been in the hospital for a week now, his father was now cleared of the infection and was recovering well from the procedure that he had done. The liver specialist had told them that his father would be treated at the liver treatment centre at one of the two centres in a London hospital and would be put on the transplant waiting list once Reginald had been sober for three months.

Exhaling slightly loudly, he heard Elizabeth enter the room and sit beside him on the sofa.

"She's out like a light." Elizabeth said softly.

"So, where shall we start?" William asked.

"Start by telling me what's going on with your father. I know that the situation is stressing you out." Elizabeth replied.

"Well he's better in the sense that the infection has cleared and he's recovered from the procedure that he had to have done as well. He has to sober up for the next three months and then go to the treatment centre for an assessment and tests to see if he's eligible to go on the transplant waiting list." Will started.

"I assume that he has to meet the criteria to go on the waiting list?" Elizabeth asked.

Will nodded, "They won't put him on there if he's not sober. The thing is, the average waiting time for an adult on this waiting list is one hundred and forty-five days but it could be longer. According to the liver specialist, my father's best option to live longer would be to have a family member donate a part of their liver."

"I didn't know that was possible."

"Yeah, it's not done often apparently as they usually prefer a donated liver from a donor who has passed away because the liver can be split into two to donate to a child and an adult who are in need of a liver transplant. But in my father's case, me or Georgie would be the best option." Will explained.

She paused for a minute before looking at him with a concerned expression.

"So what are you going to do?" Elizabeth asked.

"I'm going to talk to Georgie when she comes to Netherfield this weekend and we'll go from there."

"Are you going to get tested to see if you're a match?" she asked.

"I haven't thought about it yet. My father said that it's my decision and he'll respect whatever choice I make."

Elizabeth was evidently surprised at this revelation.

"Your father said that? Do you think he meant it?"

Will shrugged, "It's going to take a lot of work to get to a good relationship with my father, he's caused a lot of hurt."

"Maybe he's had a lot of thinking to do?"

"I think that's all he's done since he's been in hospital. On the plus side, he's been sober for a whole week."

"Well you said it's going to take a long time for your father to make an improvement, one week sober is a start." Elizabeth mused quietly.

Will took hold of her hand and squeezed it lightly.

"What's bothering you?" he asked.

Elizabeth hesitated for a few seconds before exhaling sharply.

"I'm just worried that everything with your father will get in the way of our future. He's already forced me away once and while I'm determined to not lose you a second time, I'm worried that he might use his illness as a way of getting between us. I've already told you that me and Rose aren't going to live at Netherfield with you and your father and you already know my reasons for that, so I won't repeat that part." Elizabeth admitted quietly.

Will cupped her cheek and pressed his forehead to her own.

"Lizzy, I love you. I would never allow my father to manipulate me and scheme and hurt us the way he did last time. If he was ever rude to you, I would refuse to help him get better. I've told him that if he wants to rebuild a good relationship with me then he needs to accept that you and Rose are my life, that you will always come first," Will said to her in a heartfelt whisper, "I still want that house with the back garden, with the large fireplace that we can cozy up in front of on cold winter nights. I want you to not get the injection so that we can maybe have a baby soon. I want us to have everything that we should have had four years ago."

When she gave a relieved sigh, Will closed the gap between them and kissed her fiercely, having missed her in the days following their disagreement. He had meant everything he had just said to her and wanted to show her with more than words just how much he said was true. Elizabeth closed her eyes and kissed him back, just as fiercely, with her arms wrapping around his neck tightly and her legs maneuvering so that she was placed into his lap.

Her hair was untied from its now messy ponytail state so that a mess of brown locks fell around her shoulders. Tongues caressed the other, William's hands moved to unbutton the top buttons of her work shirt, exposing the rest of her neck and her collar bone once he broke away from her mouth and laid a trail of wet, open mouthed kisses along her jaw, down her neck and the part of the collar bone he had exposed to himself. Elizabeth sighed in happiness, closing her eyes and enjoying the light headed sensation she always felt when Will kissed her this way.

Elizabeth's hands wandered from their position around his neck and down his t-shirt, feeling the hardened chest beneath that she loved to see uncovered. But her hands didn't trail to remove the shirt, instead her hands went to the zip on his jeans, pulling it down slowly before she made quick work of undoing the button. Will groaned with desire as her hands moved over his boxers, stroking him and cupping him until they both felt him getting harder from her gentle touches and caresses. His lips broke away from her neck, and he didn't notice the red patches he had left, but he did notice the green eyes that were now aflame with need for him, the pink patches on her cheekbones from her raised temperature and the slight grinding of her in his lap that made him gain a tight grasp on her thighs, with a small whisper of him requesting that she wrap her legs around his waist.

Doing as he asked, Lizzy wrapped her legs around him and moved her hands from his boxers and placed him around her neck to ensure that she stayed up. Will stood from the sofa, returning his lips to Lizzy's for a brief kiss, before carrying her out of the living room and up the stairs as quietly as they could without disturbing Rose. When they reached her bedroom and the door was locked, he placed Lizzy down on her feet where she turned on the bedside lamp. Returning her lips to his, they continued to kiss passionately as clothes were slowly removed from their bodies and lay strewn across the floor.

Will gently moved his girlfriend backwards until she was in the middle of the bed, his eyes locking with hers as he asked her if she wanted him to use protection. When she shook her head and grasped him in her left hand, he hissed with desire; claiming her lips again and using his fingers to further her arousal. Elizabeth whimpered and rocked from side to side, up and down as his fingers continued to drive her crazy as they worked their magic, making her feel safe and secure with him and him alone, making her squirm as the waves of pleasure ran through her body.

"Oh…Will….don't….stop…more…please." she requested, leaning her head to the side to try and bite as best as she could into the pillow.

Will smiled down at her, keeping eye contact as he slipped another finger into her wetness. He bent over her, his lips at her ear.

"Come for me, Lizzy." He whispered.

Just the hot breath and the throaty sound of his voice, along with the movement and pace his fingers worked inside of her were enough for her to buck against his hand and moan into the pillow, until the waves settled and she was panting to catch her breath once she released the pillow from her bite.

As Elizabeth smiled up at her boyfriend, she parted her legs wider and moaned with pleasure as he joined with her. They melded together as closely as they could get, with both unsure of where their own bodies began and ended, with William thrusting slowly in and out of her, keeping his eyes locked with those green ones that showed him how much she loved him, how much she had always loved him. Her hands played with the sweaty curls in his hair, gripping lightly as she wrapped her legs around his body and urged him to get deeper, faster and a little bit harder as he kissed her deeply. Her moans were swallowed by his mouth, Will gripped her thighs harder as he released a groan and pulled away from her lips. Elizabeth had begun to thrust her hips into his, her inner muscles tightening as she continued to gasp that he knew she wasn't going to last much longer. Picking up the pace, William moved faster and harder.

"Lizzy…I….love….you…." he managed to gasp out.

"Mmmm…love….you too…" came her reply.

Seconds later, they came together; with William spilling into her and collapsing into her waiting arms. Minutes passed where no words were spoken and the only sounds that filled the room was their ragged breath as they breathed in unison. When both had eventually calmed down after their lovemaking, they fell underneath the covers and curled up together, their body heat being shared and the last whispers of 'I love you' and 'Goodnight' were shared. William turned off the bedside lamp and listened to the heavy inhales and exhales of his girlfriend, telling him that Elizabeth had drifted off to sleep in his arms.

Closing his eyes, Will rested his head just above hers on the pillow and drifted off into a peaceful sleep.


	27. Chapter 27

**A / N:** Thank you to those who left well wishes and reviewed the last chapter. I'm slowly recovering so my apologies that this chapter is not my best work but I wanted to get this one uploaded. The next chapter will come within two weeks from today and will focus on Reginald coming face to face with Elizabeth.

As always, enjoy and please leave a review.

* * *

January went by in the blink of an eye for both Will and Elizabeth. By the end of the month, they had viewed a three-bedroom house located on the outskirts of Meryton and not too far from Longbourn for Rose to still be within walking distance of seeing her grandparents. The house was large and open, which would let in a lot of sunlight during the spring and summer months and the garden -not as big as the one at Longbourn- contained a large patch of grass for Rose to run around on as well as a paved patio where Will had decided to place a barbecue and outdoor furniture for them to sit outside when the weather was warmer. The bedrooms, all located upstairs, were all large enough to be considered as a double room. The master bedroom, which Elizabeth and Will would take, had a built in wardrobe and adjoining en-suite bathroom. Rose had picked out the biggest room out of the remaining two which also happened to be opposite the family bathroom.

The house was just what William wanted when he and Elizabeth had discussed their future together. The living room had a large, red brick fireplace which her boyfriend had already said he was going to place their sofa in front of so they could sit in front of the fireplace on a cold, winters night. At the back end of the living room, two large doors opened up to gain access to the back garden and at the front of the living room was a large, bay window where Will had suggested they could put up their Christmas tree because of the large space, the presents would fit quite well underneath instead of setting the tree up somewhere else and having a messy pile of presents littering the floor. Just hearing William point out certain things that they could do in the house made Elizabeth smile.

But whilst Elizabeth was happy with the house that they had picked, she had been feeling a little annoyed with her boyfriend in one matter regarding the purchase of the house. They wouldn't be getting a mortgage; William had said that he had enough money in order to buy the house outright. But when Elizabeth had stated that she wanted to contribute her savings towards the purchase of the house, a debate had started. Will had said that she didn't need to put any money towards the cost because he was buying the house for the both of them and that her name would be on the deeds regardless of any financial input from her. Elizabeth had replied that the house wouldn't really feel like hers if she didn't contribute towards the buying part of the house. Will tried persuading her otherwise but his efforts were wasted, Elizabeth finally won her boyfriend round and transferred her savings into his account and Will put an offer in on the house, now it was just a case of waiting to hear back whether their offer had been accepted by the current owners.

For Will, life was getting a little bit easier. Charles and Jane, despite extending their honeymoon by another week, were due back on the thirty-first of January so he only had to look after his best friend's estate for a few more days. Alice was still staying at Netherfield so they would alternate visits to the hospital to see his father. Ever since his father had decided to make a dramatic appearance at the wedding reception, Will and his father had reached an uncomfortable civility towards each other, there were some days where he and Reginald were talking without the awkward atmosphere but on other days, his father's mood was all over the place; with his father stating that he desperately needed a drink and sometimes shaking from the lack of alcohol he had been used to consuming. But on the plus side, his father had been sober for a whole month and Reginald only needed to keep up the sobriety for another two months before he would be interviewed to see if he was suitable to have a liver transplant.

After Will and Elizabeth's disagreement and then make-up on the fourth of January, Georgiana came to stay at Netherfield for a long weekend where she and Will got tested to see if they were a match for Reginald, just to see if the live donation would be better for their father. It was a little wait and later on the week after the results were back, revealing that both of Reginald's children were a match. Elizabeth had watched her boyfriend and his little sister discuss it at great length, mostly with William arguing with Georgiana that she was too young to do something like this. Georgiana had stated to her brother that she wasn't a little girl any more, she was sixteen and wanted to do this for her father and by the time Reginald would be due to have his operation, she would have left school. The youngest Darcy also stated that Will was starting the life he should have had with Elizabeth and he wouldn't be able to do that if he donated part of his liver, therefore she was in a better position to undergo the operation.

William wasn't keen on letting his little sister undergo major surgery, especially when she was due to move back to Pemberley to start at a sixth form college in Lambton in October. Georgiana had simply replied to her brother that she could always defer for a year in order to recover from the operation and keep an eye on Reginald and then go back in the September after she had turned seventeen to do her A Levels. The two siblings continued to argue their same points for a few hours until Elizabeth interrupted them, saying that she could understand Will's concerns if Georgiana donated part of her liver to Reginald but she could also understand Georgiana's reasons for wanting to be the one to donate. In the end, the two Darcy siblings reached an agreement; they would speak it over with their father. Watching the two of them argue and debate over who should give the donation to their father, Elizabeth came to the conclusion that her boyfriend and his sister definitely had one thing in common; they were both stubborn and determined not to back down.

On the twenty-ninth of January, Elizabeth had been sent home from work for a week due to the lack of heating and a working boiler, the school had been shut by the local council in order to get the boiler and heating system fixed. She had been dropped off at Netherfield by her dad after picking Rose up from pre-school, but Will and Alice had already left for Watford General Hospital to go and visit Reginald.

On this particular day, the weather consisted of light grey clouds covering the sky. The light rainfall that they had been having over the last three days were slowly washing away the remaining patches of the December snow, now turning it a grey, mushy mess. Elizabeth stood in the grass, a small smile on her face as he watched Rose run around happily, with Dash chasing after her daughter. She had deliberately dressed herself and her daughter in old clothes because Rose had asked if she and Dash could play outside, and with the wet weather that they had been having over the last two weeks- which had washed away the snow and ice- she knew that Rose would end up getting dirty.

"Mummy, throw the ball!" Rose requested.

Elizabeth threw the tennis ball as far as she could, watching as the dog ran after it. Dash eventually caught the ball in his mouth, padding along back to Rose who took the soggy ball away from Dash and giggled like mad when Dash began to lick at Rose's fingers.

Her phone started to ring. As she pulled it out of her coat pocket, she smiled to see it was Will.

"Hello you." Elizabeth greeted warmly.

"Hello yourself, are you still at Netherfield?" Will asked.

"We are; Rose is currently playing fetch with Dash."

"Old clothes?"

"Of course, I don't want her new stuff to get ruined. She's only had the new clothes for a few weeks."

"So listen, there's something that you need to know…" William said slowly.

"What is it?" Elizabeth asked.

"My father is being discharged from the hospital today." Will replied.

Elizabeth's eyes widened and the smile that had been on her face had now faded as the phone line went quiet. She hadn't been expecting her boyfriend to share that bit of news with her.

"Today? But he wasn't supposed to get out until next week!" she said.

"I know. Can I ask a huge favour?"

"Depends what it is."

"Can you ask the staff to sort out his room for him, one of the bedrooms close to the ground floor because he can't overdo it." Will said.

"I can do that. But do you honestly expect me to stay here and make small talk with your father? My car is in for its MOT and my dad is at the garage getting it sorted for me. My mum doesn't drive and neither does Lydia, so I can't really walk three miles with Rose."

"I know Lizzy. I don't expect you to do anything." Will replied softly.

"As big as Netherfield is, I'm going to have to come in at some point because Rose will need to change if the rain gets any heavier. I'm bound to run into him eventually." Elizabeth muttered.

"I know love. I know how hard it is for you regarding the situation with my dad. But just remember that you and Rose come first." Will reassured her.

"Will, you've said that so many times that I've lost count." Elizabeth laughed lightly.

"And I'll keep on saying it because it's the truth," Will replied, "We'll be back shortly; Alice is just waiting for the discharge paperwork."

"Okay, I'll see you in a little bit then."

"I love you Lizzy."

"I love you too."

The phone call ended. Elizabeth exhaled heavily as she placed the phone back inside her pocket and watched as Rose continued to run around on the muddy grass. She wasn't sure how she felt about Reginald being discharged from the hospital early, all she knew was that this wasn't how she wanted to come face to face with him again. When she had imagined coming face to face with Will's father again after all these years, she had imagined it being on her terms where she had her car sat on the driveway in case she needed to make a quick getaway.

It wasn't the way she wanted Rose to meet Will's father either. In fact, she didn't think that Reginald even deserved to meet Rose after everything that had happened. It was because of Reginald Darcy that Rose hadn't known who her father was for the first three-and-a-half years of her life and if it hadn't been for Jane and Charles getting engaged, it might have been a lot longer. As much as she still thought about the 'what ifs' on how things might have gone, she knew that she had to let go of her feelings, what happened had already happened and no amount of talking would change that; but it was hard not feeling resentment and anger towards a spiteful man, despite him being the father of the man she loved, despite him being really ill and in need of life changing surgery.

The rain started to become a little heavier than the light rain that she and Rose had been experiencing a few minutes ago.

"Rose, we need to get you inside." Elizabeth called.

The little girl walked over to her with a disappointed look on her face.

"Mummy, can't I play longer?" Rose requested, a little pout forming on her face.

Elizabeth shook her head, sometimes it was difficult saying no to her daughter but it needed to be done from time to time. She had always considered herself quite lucky that Rose was a child who had never really thrown a temper tantrum, her daughter had never really gone through the 'terrible twos' phase.

"Sorry Rosie, we're wet enough. Let's go inside, get changed into some dry clothes and watch a movie." Elizabeth replied.

"Can we watch Snow White?" Rose asked.

"Sure."

Elizabeth took hold of her daughter's hand and led her back inside the house, praying silently to herself that Reginald would do the sensible thing and head straight upstairs to the room he would be staying in.

ooOoo

Entering the room where his father had been staying for the past month, William watched as his father looked around the room with a look of uncertainty on his face.

"Ready to go?" Will asked.

His father nodded.

"I won't be sorry to leave this place." Reginald replied.

"I know it's going to be hard, dad, but me and Georgie are going to help."

"You're only helping me because of a promise made to your sister." Reginald muttered.

"That's true, I won't deny it. But can we please stop going on about the events that led us here and try and move forward?" William asked.

Reginald turned around to face him and gave a curt nod. His father was still being as stubborn as ever.

"What's taking so long? I've had enough of this hospital!" Reginald snapped impatiently.

"Alice is just getting the information of some local support groups to help with the alcoholism." Will stated.

Reginald nodded but said nothing. William knew that his father was a little anxious about adjusting to life outside of the hospital, for the past month it had been easier to stay sober because there wasn't any access to alcohol whereas now, Reginald was going to adjust to live without constant supervision of the nursing team at Watford General. Despite Will reassuring his father that Netherfield had undergone a complete cleanse of alcohol and that he and Alice would be there, Reginald was still a little skeptical in his ability to remain sober.

Alice arrived back in the room, holding the paperwork that contained the discharge information and the three exited the ward.

"Will Elizabeth be at Netherfield?" Alice asked.

Will nodded, "Her dad dropped her off before taking her car to the local garage for its MOT. She's made sure that you've got a room prepared, Dad." He replied.

Reginald grunted, "So I have to deal with coming face to face with a woman who despises me?" his father asked.

Will rolled his eyes, "You'll be nice because coming face to face with you again is something she has been dreading since you showed up at her sister's wedding reception." He scolded.

"You've already made it clear Fitzwilliam that I need to be on my best behaviour." Reginald grumbled.

"And you will be. I'll be there for you to help you get better but you will be civil to Elizabeth if the two of you happen to have a conversation." William stated.

His father merely grunted in reply as they left the room and headed out of the ward, walking through the main corridors of the hospital as they reached the lift.

"You might want to put your coat on Reginald, it's cold outside." Alice suggested.

"Stop fussing over me!" Reginald snapped.

Will looked apologetically at Alice. He felt a little sorry for her, after months of putting up with his father's mood swings and alcoholic behaviour, the last thing that she needed was more of his father's mood swings being taken out on her. But Alice simply smiled in reply, as if to say that she was used to it by now and it didn't hurt her feelings because she knew that he didn't mean to take his bad mood out on her.

When the lift brought them to the ground floor of the hospital, they exited via the reception and walked across the car park to find William's car. After paying the parking fee for use of the hospital car park, Will started the engine and left the hospital grounds, with his father sitting in silence in the passenger seat.

ooOoo

Elizabeth sat on the sofa in the living room, her eyes focusing on the colourful images on the TV screen as the Disney version of Snow White whilst her daughter sat on the floor a few inches from where her feet rested. Rose had her eyes glued to the TV, the only movement that the little girl made was to take the occasional sip of her apple juice.

She heard the front doors open and the sound of several footsteps enter the hall, followed by raised voices and one of them sent shivers down her spine and not in a good way. When she made the decision to simply stay where she was, knowing she wasn't ready to face Reginald just yet; it was too late. Rose looked towards the door and smiled widely, having heard William's voice in the hall.

"Rose-"

But the little girl had already gotten up from where she had been sitting on the floor, no longer watching Snow White as the almost four-year-old ran out of the living room and into the hall. Elizabeth silently cursed herself, wishing that she had been a little quicker to stop her daughter from running out of the living room. This wasn't the way she had wanted things to go. Sighing heavily, Elizabeth got up from the sofa and slowly walked out of the living room and into the hall.

"Daddy!" Rose squealed with excitement as she ran up to her father.

Elizabeth watched as Will bent down and held his arms out to their daughter. Rose immediately flung her arms around her dad's neck and giggled as Will got to his feet and began to spin her around; all the while Elizabeth's own gaze met the cold eyes of the man who was making his way up the staircase with Alice Reynolds.


	28. Chapter 28

**A / N:** My thanks as usual to you lovely readers who continue to read and review my story. I know I said a while ago that I was aiming to finish this up within thirty chapters but it's more likely to be closer to forty with an epilogue to follow once the last chapter is posted so I hope that you'll continue to stick with me until the end.

The next chapter will hopefully be ready to post by the 10th August.

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Reginald looked away from Elizabeth, seeing the look of mixed feelings in those green eyes of hers told him just how much damage he had caused to her and his son and for the first time in his life he felt something he never thought he would feel, he felt guilty for sending Elizabeth away. He couldn't look her in the eye, it was just too much for him at the moment and he could tell that she was just as uncomfortable as he was. Instead, he stood on the staircase and turned his attention to his son, who was cuddling his own child. The little girl who was technically his granddaughter, who was looking at Fitzwilliam with the biggest smile and warmest eyes he had ever seen.

Then the little girl looked at him and he could have sworn that time stood still. His heart seemed to be beating really slow as he studied the little girl. She was more Darcy then Bennet in looks, with the same brown, curly hair and the brown Darcy eyes, in looks she was like Fitzwilliam. But before he could say anything, he felt Alice tug on his arm.

"Come on Reg, we need to get you settled in." Alice said to him a low voice.

Turning his attention to Alice, he said nothing in reply but gave an agreeing nod of the head and allowed her to help him up the rest of the stairs, feeling a little relieved now that coming face to face with Elizabeth Bennet again was over. Just the look on her face showed him exactly how she felt about him; she was hurt because of the way he had treated her, hurt because of what he had done to her and his son, she was angry because of all the hurt he had caused. But there was also the feelings of dread at being in the same room as him and for the first time in his life since he had sent the girl away from his Chelsea home, he knew just how wrong he had been to intervene in a situation to which he had never had the right to do in the first place.

Alice opened the door to the bedroom he would be staying in and led him inside, helping him climb into the double bed before she pulled the curtains to a close.

"You need to rest." Alice said.

"Resting is all I've done for the past month." Reginald replied grumpily.

"You heard the doctors, you have to take it easy. We need to slowly get you to adjust to a normal routine and so, this evening you're to stay in bed and rest. Tomorrow we'll go for a walk around the Netehrfield grounds and get you used to a routine before your first support group meeting next week." Alice stated.

"How is talking to a room full of strangers about my alcohol addiction going to make things better?" Reginald asked.

Alice rolled her eyes, "You made a promise to Fitzwilliam and Georgiana that you would get better. This is a part of the process. You also need to decide which offer of a liver donation you're going to take, Fitzwilliam's or Georgiana's." she replied.

"It's their choice, to be honest I'm surprised that they're even willing to donate me a part of their liver."

"You're their father, as much as you've hurt them, they love you. They don't want to see you die when they know that they could help you to live a little longer."

Reginald sighed heavily, knowing full well that he didn't deserve the help of his children.

"I know now just how much hurt that I've caused."

Alice sat on the edge of the bed.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Seeing Elizabeth Bennet. She despises me and rightly so. Just the look on her face told me how much damage I had done to her and for the first time I felt guilty for my decision to send her away and keep her and Fitzwilliam apart."

Alice gave him a small smile.

"Give everyone some time, I'm sure that you can make amends for your past behaviour."

"You seem to have a lot of faith in my ability to make amends, Alice." Reginald muttered.

Alice stood from the bed, "I know you can get through this. I know you can be the man you were before Anne died." She smiled.

Reginald didn't know what to say in response, but he knew that he was extremely lucky to have someone like Alice in his life, someone who was determined not give up on him and he realised that he had treated her quite badly over the last few months with his drinking and outbursts.

But before he could apologise or thank her for being there for him, she headed to the bedroom door.

"I'm going to get some soup prepared for you, I figured that since you haven't had much of an appetite I'd make you something light to eat for dinner."

"Thank you, Alice."

With one last smile, Alice left the bedroom and closed the door behind her; leaving Reginald to ponder on how he was going to make amends.

What he hadn't ever paid attention to, despite having hired a private investigator to take photographs of his granddaughter as a baby, was how much little Rose looked like his son. When the little girl had looked at him with those curious brown eyes, it was as if time stood still; that was the only way he could describe it. She was absolutely beautiful, and he had been taken with his granddaughter instantly and he hadn't even had a conversation with her yet.

His head hit back on the pillow and he exhaled heavily, unsure of whether he would be able to make up for his mistakes.

ooOoo

"Lizzy? What's the matter? You've been quiet since I got back." Will said quietly.

They had just finished watching Snow White with Rose, who was now sat on the floor with a colouring book and her crayons, and even though she hadn't spoken to Reginald, she now knew that the reality of being under the same roof as him was here. Reginald Darcy would now be a part of her life and she had no choice but to accept it.

"I don't want to talk about this in front of Rose." Elizabeth said quietly.

Will nodded his understanding and took her hand, telling Rose to stay in the living room as they both walked out of the room and headed into the dining room to talk privately. Once they were both sat at the table, he gave her that look that implored her to talk to him about what was bothering her.

"I thought that I would be okay with your father being here, I want to be okay with it and I want to be supportive but it's really hard for me." Elizabeth admitted.

"I know it can't be easy."

"And it makes me feel bloody awful for feeling this way. Your father is critically ill and needs a liver transplant to survive and I know I need to let it go, I need to move on from the past if we're going to have a future together, but it's hard."

"I don't expect you to have a relationship with my father." Will stated.

"How can I not? A few weeks ago we agreed to try for another baby, we're buying a house together here because my life is here, my job is here, my family is here and Rose is starting school where I teach in September. You agreed to a life here with us because you were unaware of what your father was going through and now you've promised Georgiana to help your father get better which means trying to improve things between you and I get that, I really do. But if you have a relationship with him again, that means that I have to have one with him as well." Elizabeth replied.

"When I left Pemberley after my confrontation with my father, it's true that I came here to start over a new life with you and our daughter, I knew that was what I wanted and just because I now know what my father has been struggling with since I left, it doesn't mean that everything that we have planned is going to disappear. We will buy that house we've made an offer on, we will have another child." William promised.

"I think it's just going to take some time for me to come to terms with everything." Elizabeth muttered.

"It will take time," Will agreed, "I've already told my father that he will make amends with you if he wants to be in my life again."

"And what about Rose? Does he expect to have a relationship with our daughter or any future child of ours? Because I'm not comfortable with that thought." Elizabeth admitted.

"I know you aren't, at this moment in time I don't think he deserves to be a grandfather to Rose after all his deceit. Lizzy, we can't make decisions about the future with this matter because we don't know how things are going to go. We might not feel the way we do about my father this time next year, or in two years, or five. We have to take this slowly and see how things go before we make any decisions regarding my father and how things are going to be with him and us."

"I feel like I'm being a bit of bitch if I'm honest, telling you how I feel about your father now that he's here." Elizabeth mumbled.

Will gave her a reassuring smile and reached across the table to give her hand a light squeeze.

"You aren't. It's perfectly reasonable for you to feel the way you do. But as long as we tell each other and we're honest with each other about how we feel and what bothers us, we'll be fine." Will promised.

ooOoo

The days seemed to fly by ever since Jane and Charles had left Netherfield for their honeymoon in Greece. Their married life hadn't exactly started out the way that she had wanted it to, with Charles concerned about Reginald Darcy and had agreed to allow the man to stay under their roof so that he could be more local to London where he had to go to a specialist unit to be treated. Her husband's decision hadn't sat well with her.

 _"The man is nearly dying, it's the least we can do to help!" Charles had said._

 _"The man turns up at our wedding reception, drunk and collapsing after vomiting up his own blood. Not to mention he lied and deliberately kept our niece from having her father in her life. And you want me to play nice?" Jane had snapped in reply ._

As an apology, Charles had booked for them to stay in Athens for an extra week and they had agreed not to discuss Reginald again whilst they were away, it wouldn't do any of them any good to dwell on the matter when they weren't even back home. She could understand why Charles wanted to help, Reginald had helped him get started out in the business world and her husband had felt a depth of gratitude for the help that Reginald had given him, as well as the fact that the Bingley and Darcy families had known each other since Charles and William had been young children.

Their first night back at Netherfield had been quite quiet, Will had let them settle back into their home and Reginald had kept to the bedroom he had been given for his duration there. But it was on the second of February that Jane came face to face with Reginald.

It was during the mid-afternoon as she said goodbye to a new client and had seen said client out of the house and then headed into the dining room to eat her lunch; the first thing that she would get to eat that day due to having to skip breakfast because of morning sickness. As she sat at the table to tuck into her sandwich, Reginald appeared in the doorway.

"Oh…sorry to bother you… I was looking for Alice." Reginald said.

"I haven't seen her." Jane replied curtly.

Reginald nodded and after an awkward silence, cleared his throat which caused her to look up from her untouched food.

"I wanted to say thank you for allowing me to stay in your home while I get better." Reginald mumbled.

Jane frowned. She knew that she should just keep quiet and accept his thanks and under normal circumstances, she would have done just that. But she was angry. Angry at the way this man had treated her little sister and with pregnancy hormones raging inside of her, she couldn't stop the words from coming out of her mouth.

"Are you kidding me? If it were up to me, you wouldn't be staying here. The only reason you're staying in my home is because my husband is too nice to deny a friend some help." Jane snapped.

Reginald blinked, "Charles always said you were quite lovely, I assumed you didn't mind my staying here." He replied.

"Then you thought wrong." Jane snapped.

"I'm sorry-"

But Jane interrupted him, she didn't want or need his apologies; he hadn't done anything to her.

"Save your apologies for my sister and my niece," Jane said, rising from her seat now that she had lost her appetite, "Your actions hurt her and you didn't care."

Reginald sighed, "I've already spoken with my son on the matter of my reasons behind my actions and I'm beginning to realise that I was wrong to act in the manner that I did."

"My sister fell in love with William instantly, he was the first person she was ever serious about, did you know that? She hadn't had a serious relationship until your son came along and from the various phone calls and emails that we exchanged that summer she spent with my aunt and uncle in Spain, I knew that she had met the person she wanted to spend her life with. She told me that they would work it out when she went back to university, she was determined and so was he and I encouraged her. I could see from the words she wrote to me just how much he made her happy." Jane began.

Reginald said nothing in reply, she guessed he knew that she wasn't finished speaking just yet.

"And then she returned to us at the end of August, completely different to the person she usually was. She wasn't laughing, she wasn't teasing like she usually did, she wasn't herself. My father was so worried about her that he considered getting her psychological help until one day, me and our father cornered her in my father's study where she broke down and revealed everything; showing us the cheque you so 'generously' had given her and told us of the treatment she had received at your hands, and then came the reveal that you and William wanted nothing to do with her or the child she was carrying."

"I thought she was a gold digger-"

"Lizzy isn't like that; money doesn't faze her. She ripped up that cheque the moment you shoved her into a taxi. My mum tried to convince her into having an abortion but Lizzy didn't want that. We all discussed it and we did what any normal family would do; we helped her. She got a job and worked her arse off to save the money for the things she needed to buy, she carried on going to university and got through it and got her degree whilst we helped with the childcare. You don't realise just how hard it was for her, to do it all alone and to think that she was alone; she tried to get in touch with Will when Rose was born and had no reply. Of course, we know that was all you as well."

"What do you want me to say?" Reginald asked.

"I don't want you to say anything, not to me at least. Quite frankly, you make me sick. What kind of father tries to control the way his son lives his life? What kind of father would deny his son the chance to be a parent to a wonderful little girl?"

"A bad one." Reginald muttered.

"Well that's something we can agree on." Jane said, her voice full of scorn as she barged past Reginald and left the dining room.

It wasn't usually like her to speak her mind. Usually she stayed out of things or tried to see both sides of things but this was completely different; it involved the sister she had always seen as her best friend, and she couldn't stop herself from speaking her mind to the man who had hurt her sister so badly.

As she headed up to her bedroom for a lie down, she silently decided that she and Charles had to have a much needed conversation about their new house guest.

ooOoo

Elizabeth walked up the road that led back towards Longbourn, carrying various bags of shopping as Rose skipped beside her. She was still off from work, which she was rather enjoying because she got to spend a little bit more time with Rose during this period of time off but it meant that her car needed fixing after it had failed it's MOT so it involved her father getting that sorted for her whilst she had agreed to get some food from the supermarket for her mother because Mrs. Hill was off sick with the flu.

But as she came to the entrance to the driveway, she stopped in her tracks. Sitting on the road in the car with Alice, outside her home was Reginald Darcy. Her heart was beating so fast that she was sure it would burst out of her chest she was that nervous that he had the nerve to show up here.

"Rose, head indoors and tell Lydia to come and get the shopping, I'll be five minutes." Lizzy instructed.

"Okay mummy." Her daughter replied, skipping up the gravel drive as Elizabeth dumped her bags of shopping at the entrance and walked over to the car as Reginald got out of the passenger's side.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Elizabeth shouted.

"I need to talk to you." Reginald replied calmly.

"Well you had a wasted trip, I don't want to talk to you."

"Please, Elizabeth, there are things that I need to say."

"And you thought that I would want to hear them, four days after you get discharged from hospital?" Elizabeth nearly shrieked.

"Not really but your sister-"

"What does Jane have to do with you showing up here?" Elizabeth asked bitterly.

Reginald looked like his feelings had been hurt, but Elizabeth didn't care. In this moment she didn't want Reginald anywhere near Longbourn or her daughter.

"Your sister was quite vocal about her feelings on the way I treated you, she kind of ranted at me and told me off for my behaviour and it made me realise that I was long overdue to talk to you about it." Reginald replied calmly.

Hearing that Jane had told Reginald Darcy off made her a feel a little surprised because Jane wasn't usually the one for confrontation, but it also made her feel a little grateful that her sister had felt the need to stick up for her. She was curious to know exactly what her sister had said to the man she had spent the last four and a half years hating.

"Fine. You have five minutes." Elizabeth agreed reluctantly.

Reginald gave an appreciative smile and gestured to a bench where the two of them sat down, where she was waiting to hear what he had to say to her.


	29. Chapter 29

**A / N:** Thanks to those of you who reviewed the last chapter, I loved reading your thoughts on it. This chapter is coming a little earlier than I originally said it would but I've had a lot of free time on my hands and a lot of determination to write over the last few days.

Chapter 30 will hopefully be ready to post by the 20th August, if not then apologies in advance as it's my son's birthday in two weeks so that will be my reason as to why the post might be a little late but I hope that won't be the case. Just a little something to look forward to, Reginald will get to know little Rosie in the next chapter.

As always, please continue to read and review and enjoy this chapter.

* * *

She could have sworn it was supposed to be a bad dream, sitting on a bench outside her home with the man she had spent the last four and half years hating for what he had done to her. Elizabeth was still feeling nervous about what Reginald wanted to say to her, she also felt slightly curious because the man had revealed that it was something that Jane had said to him that had caused him to come to Longbourn to talk to her.

"If I were you, I'd get talking. You don't have a lot of time." Elizabeth said impatiently.

Reginald cleared his throat.

"Your sister gave me a little insight into how things were with you after I sent you away with the cheque, she said that your father considered getting you psychological help because what I did caused you such pain that you weren't the person you are. She said that you had to work quite hard in order to provide for the child-"

"The child is called Rose. She's a person, living and breathing and she has feelings just as much as you and I do. If you want me to carry on listening to whatever it is you want to say to me, you'll acknowledge that she's your son's daughter." Elizabeth shrieked.

Reginald nodded.

"I apologise, that was insensitive of me to refer to Rose as 'the child', it won't happen again."

"Continue, you've got four minutes." Elizabeth urged impatiently.

"Your sister made it clear how much you suffered, that you had to face bringing up Rose on your own because of what I did and I think I understand now that I isolated you. My first impression of you was that you were only with my son for our money, that you would scam him and then run and when I found out that you were carrying his baby, I thought it was a trap set for Fitzwilliam and the future that I wanted him to have, the things that I wanted him to achieve were threatened by this discovery. So I made the decision to separate the two of you, at the time I thought that I was doing the right thing." Reginald explained calmly.

Elizabeth scoffed in disbelief.

"The money never bothered me. If you had gotten to know me like any normal person would have done, then you'd know that I always put the money back in Will's pockets whenever he decided to pay for our dates in Spain and that was because he refused to take my money whenever I offered to pay for my half of the date."

"My children's futures were the main focus point of my life after my wife died. In those days, I shut myself away from my children and got so drunk that I would pass out. If it weren't for Alice, my children would have lost their father when Georgiana was only a little bit older than Rose is now. When I finally sobered up, their futures became my one focus. I had dreams for them, Fitzwilliam had finished his bachelor's degree and was going to do a two-year master's after his summer in Spain. I was hoping that he would see sense after he had broken up with Eleanor for the millionth time and get back together with her. I liked Eleanor, I thought that she was a suitable choice for a future wife for my son and when he returned home for August with you, that vision of the future that I had for Fitzwilliam was vanishing." Reginald explained.

"I understand that parents have certain hopes for their children, my own mother wasn't exactly pleased when I returned home pregnant and unmarried. She always wanted her daughters to be married before they had children and wanted me to consider have an abortion which I refused. Once my father and sister agreed to help me when the baby came, she eventually got used to the idea that I wasn't following her hopes for me, but that's not to say that she's still not disappointed with my choice but she's never forced me to do anything like you forced William to move on after you sent me away." Elizabeth said.

"I was very determined not to let you interfere with what I wanted, I believed that my son was meant to be with Eleanor and I saw you as an obstacle, as I did with Rose."

"Speaking of Eleanor, did you know that after she revealed to Will about her part in your schemes, she tried to plot to get him back; going as far as to recruit a rapist to try and seduce me away and when that failed, she plotted to kidnap my daughter with Caroline Bingley? Is that really someone that you want your son to be with?" Elizabeth asked.

This revelation took Reginald by surprise, just the way his eyes widened in shock made her realise that he hadn't known about Eleanor's plans to try and win back Will.

"I didn't know. When she left Pemberley after Fitzwilliam cut all ties with me, we didn't stay in contact." Reginald replied.

Elizabeth nodded but said nothing and for a few seconds there was a brief silence until Elizabeth looked around to see that Lydia was picking up the shopping bags before heading back towards the house.

"What I want to say is that when I sent you away, I never once considered how much damage it would do to you. All I was concerned about was getting my son back on track with his life and convinced him that you were a temporary distraction from all of that but I now know that I was wrong to act in the manner that I did. I should have gotten to know you instead of imagining you to be someone that you aren't and I should have stayed out of something that wasn't my concern and allowed my son to make his own choices, especially when it came down to the fact that you were having his baby. For the way that I treated you, I'm sorry."

Elizabeth's mouth dropped open a little in shock, she certainly hadn't expected him to apologise for what he had done to her and William. She didn't know how she was supposed to react to the man, it was evident that he wanted to make amends; he was completely different to the man she had met four and a half years ago.

But while she appreciated Reginald's efforts, she knew that she couldn't just forgive him straight away. Because of Reginald's actions, Rose had gone three and half years without a father in her life and despite the fact that Rose and William had formed a very close, very affectionate bond and relationship, she knew that her daughter and her boyfriend would never get that time back. William would always have missed out on the first three years of Rose's life.

"I appreciate your apology, it's long overdue. But if you think that I can just forgive you after everything you've done, I can't. Rose missed out on having a father in her life and William missed out on seeing and experiencing so many firsts with her and we'll never get that back. Nothing can make up for that." Elizabeth stated.

Reginald nodded his understanding.

"I don't expect you to forgive me for what I've done, I just wanted to apologise and start making amends for my behaviour and my actions. My son has made it clear that you and Rose are his future and I won't get in the way of that, but if I want to be in my son's life then I needed to make amends with you and I'll try for the rest of my life, however long I have left, to ensure that I try." Reginald promised.

Elizabeth stood up from the bench, wanting to part ways with Reginald now.

"You can try and maybe someday I won't feel all these negative feelings towards you. But I can't just forgive and forget because you didn't just hurt me; you also hurt Rose, even if she doesn't know what you've done."

Reginald seemed surprised by those words.

"You haven't painted me in a bad way to my granddaughter?" he asked.

Elizabeth shook her head.

"She's only your granddaughter by blood and no I haven't, the difference between us, Reginald Darcy, is that I want my daughter to make her own choices about what she wants to do with her life and that includes the people she wants in it. I won't force her to have a relationship with you and neither would I prevent her from wanting one if she does want one with you; but it's all down to Rose. I wouldn't want to influence Rose's decision in any way by letting her know of my feelings about you." Elizabeth replied.

Reginald nodded and got up from the bench, slowly walking to the passenger side of the car and climbed back in; leaving Elizabeth standing at the entrance to the driveway. She watched as Alice drove off and when they were out of sight, she headed back up the gravel driveway and into the house; trying to take in everything that Reginald had said to her.

ooOoo

"I've brought you something to eat, the staff said that you haven't eaten since breakfast." Charles announced as the bedroom door opened.

Jane opened her eyes and sat up in the bed, not realising that she had been asleep for the majority of the afternoon. Charles set a tray across her lap and she smiled, she was feeling quite hungry now after her nap.

"You need to make sure that you eat, there's two of you that need to be looked after."

"I know Charles! But I lost my appetite after I had a little run in with Reginald Darcy." Jane snapped.

Charles blinked, "What do you mean? What happened?" he asked.

Jane took a sip of tomato soup and swallowed. She hadn't meant to snap at her husband, she felt that's all she had been doing since Charles hadn't consulted her about Will's father staying at Netherfield whilst he needed to be at the liver treatment centre, but pregnancy was throwing her mood levels all over the place.

"He thanked me for letting him stay here and I told him that I didn't want him here because of what he did to Lizzy." Jane answered, eating more of her soup like she hadn't eaten in days.

Charles frowned, "I should have asked you before I agreed to let him stay here, I'm sorry." He whispered.

"He can't stay here, Charles, he has to go."

"I get how you feel about him-"

"Do you?!"

"Jane, what he did to Lizzy was unforgivable. But he's a very ill man and I can't just kick him out." Charles pointed out.

"Well either he goes or I do." Jane snapped.

There was a moment of silence and in that instant, Jane felt guilty for giving her husband the ultimatum the way she did. She hadn't meant for it to come out as harshly as it did but she meant it all the same. Whilst the man who had nearly destroyed her sister was staying at Netherfield, she didn't want to be.

"Alright. I can't allow you to get stressed out about this anymore. You're carrying our baby and your health and our child's health is what's important right now." Charles conceded.

"I can't tolerate living with that man, I'm sorry but I can't."

"I understand, you're just being protective of Lizzy and Rose."

Jane took hold of his hand and gave it a light squeeze whilst his other hand moved the tray of food off her lap and then placed his free hand over her growing stomach lovingly.

"Are we going to find out what we're having when we go for the scan next week?" Charles asked.

"I haven't thought about it. Do you want to know?"

Charles nodded, "A part of me is curious and these days, we have that option. Wouldn't it be easier to know what we're having so we can pick out clothes and colours for the nursery, as well as a name?" he asked.

"I suppose so, I'd quite like to know if we're having a boy or a girl."

"So…we're going to find out?" Charles asked.

Jane smiled and nodded.

"Yes, we're going to find out." She replied.

For a brief moment, it didn't matter that the matter with Reginald was making her uncomfortable, they were caught up in the excitement of becoming parents for the first time. Despite the pain she had seen Lizzy try to hide as her pregnancy with Rose progressed, she knew that the first time her sister had held her little girl in her arms it was love at first sight; she knew that Lizzy knew that her life had more purpose when she had given birth to Rose. In her whole experience of pregnancy so far, the thing she looked forward to the most was being able to see her child in the flesh for the first time.

Charles retracted his hands from Jane and placed the tray back over her lap.

"You need to finish eating, I'll be downstairs. I need to talk to Will about a few things." He said softly.

Jane nodded and went back to eating her soup as Charles left the room, she hoped that Will wouldn't think less of her for asking her husband to make a choice.

ooOoo

Elizabeth entered the entrance hall and took off her coat as Jane led her into the living room at Netherfield. She had asked her father to put Rose to bed so that she could head over to speak to Jane, ever since her sister had returned from her honeymoon in Greece, they hadn't really had much of a chance to talk properly.

"I'd offer you a glass of wine, but we're all out of alcohol." Jane said, sitting down on the sofa.

Elizabeth sat next to her sister and smiled.

"It's fine, besides I don't really fancy enjoying a glass of wine on my own."

"After the day I've had, I could really use a glass. Right now, it sucks to be pregnant." Jane grumbled.

Elizabeth laughed slightly.

"I get how you're feeling. The inability to consume certain things, the lack of sleep because you get uncomfortable…"

"The morning sickness, the weird cravings…" Jane mused.

"The mood swings that make you act out of character?" Elizabeth suggested.

Jane's smile faded, with her blue eyes catching on to where Elizabeth was steering the conversation.

"Have you spoken to Will?" Jane asked.

Elizabeth shook her head.

"He's been busy today so no I haven't. I actually had a visitor earlier this afternoon." She replied.

Jane frowned but said nothing, indicating for Elizabeth to explain further.

"Reginald Darcy showed up at Longbourn asking to talk to me. He told me that you told him off for his actions and hurtful deceit towards me and Rose."

"I did. The nerve of him to thank me for allowing him to stay under my roof when I don't want him here after what he did to you."

"What did you say to him?" Elizabeth asked.

"I told him that he makes me sick, I told him how you broke down and struggled to raise Rose and how a normal family helps each other out when they need the help instead of sticking their nose in where it doesn't belong basically." Jane replied.

Elizabeth smiled gratefully, "I appreciate you sticking up for me and telling him off, he came over to Longbourn and gave me a much needed apology." She said.

Jane's eyes widened, "You haven't forgiven him have you? You can't get back those lost years." Her sister said.

"No, I haven't. He still did all of those things, even if he realises that he was wrong to do that to me and Will." Elizabeth stated.

Jane nodded.

"So now you've told me what's happened with Reginald, can we move on?" Jane asked.

"Of course, tell me all about Greece." Elizabeth replied.

The two sisters settled back on the sofa, with Jane telling Elizabeth about the time that she and Charles spent in Greece; deliberately leaving out the parts where they had disagreed about Reginald staying at Netherfield. Then Elizabeth updated her sister about life in general, all the while wondering when she and Will would hear back from the owners of the house that they wanted to buy.

ooOoo

Since his best friend had told him earlier that afternoon that his father needed to leave Netherfield, Will had been calling the local estate agents to ask for quick viewings on any suitable properties they had to rent that would suit Reginald and Alice. He could understand Charles's point of view. He didn't hold a grudge even though he knew his best friend was finding it hard to evict his father. But Charles was right, Jane was his wife now and she couldn't handle staying under the same roof as the man who had hurt her sister and the thought of doing so was starting to stress her out and also the baby; and Will agreed that Jane didn't need this kind of stress at the moment.

The estate agent had shown them three properties which he didn't think was suitable. The previous three had been two houses with everything upstairs and a top floor flat in a three story converted house which wouldn't suit his father in his current condition. Reginald needed everything on the ground floor because he didn't have enough strength to walk up flights of stairs. So the current property they were viewing was perfect for his father to live in temporarily. It was a ground floor flat located on the outskirts of Meryton, two bedrooms and a bathroom with an open lounge/kitchen area available to rent.

"I'll take it." Will said to the estate agent.

The estate agent smiled, "If you come to the office tomorrow, we can sort out all the paperwork for you then, Mr. Darcy." She said.

They left the flat, saying goodbye to the estate agent as he and Alice climbed back into his car where his father was sat reading the local paper.

"How was the property?" his father asked, folding the newspaper.

"It's just what you need, it has two bedrooms of good sizes and it's fully furnished. I'll sign the contract tomorrow and then you and Alice can move in as soon as possible." Will replied.

"How long will the contract be?" Reginald asked.

"I'll be getting it on a rolling one month so we aren't tied in to a commitment longer than we need it."

But before Will could start the car, the estate agent was tapping on the driver's side window; breathing heavily having just ran from her own car. Will wound down the window, and faced the estate agent.

"What's the matter? Has someone already taken the flat?" he asked.

The estate agent shook her head.

"Mr. Darcy, I've just called the office to inform them of your interest in the flat to rent and my boss informed me that your offer on the house that you and Miss Bennet have put in to buy, has been accepted."

William grinned in excitement as he thanked the estate agent and told her that he would bring Elizabeth with him to sign the deeds to their new house. As he started the car and began to pull out into the main road, he felt his father staring at him.

"What is it dad?" Will asked.

"You've bought a house?" Reginald questioned.

"I have. Well me and Elizabeth have." Will confirmed.

"Elizabeth bought it as well?"

Will nodded, focusing on the road.

"She put in her savings towards the cost of the house, I didn't want her to but she was insistent. It's what we want and Rose loved the back garden."

"I'm happy for you son."

Will stopped at the traffic lights and turned to face his father, a little surprised that his father had sounded genuine.

"You are?" Will asked.

Reginald nodded, "I'm starting to accept that you have to live your own life." His father replied.

Will didn't know how to respond to what his father had said, the traffic lights were changing from red to green so he took the hand brake off and started to head back to Netherfield. The rest of the journey was a quiet one with Reginald nearly falling asleep with his head against the window, he knew that the day's events of looking at properties for his father to live in was tiring for Reginald.

When they finally got back to Netherfield, Alice said that she would get Reginald settled in for the night and began to help him up the stairs, just as Elizabeth came out of the living room with a surprised look on her face.

"I wasn't expecting to see you today." She said happily, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Will smiled, "I was about to head over to Longbourn actually, but seeing as you're here, I have some really great news." He replied.

Raising an eyebrow, Elizabeth looked at him as if to say that she was waiting to hear what his news was.

"Our offer on the house has been accepted!" Will said happily.

Elizabeth squealed with excitement as he lifted her off her feet and spun her round before placing a kiss to her lips. As the happy couple shared a tender moment together, Reginald looked over his shoulder and smiled a little, seeing that his son was truly happy just as he had been with his own wife all those years ago, it was as if he was watching a love story not so different to his own and he knew that he really had been wrong to push Eleanor Clarence upon his son; because now he knew, just the way Fitzwilliam broke the kiss and looked into Elizabeth's eyes with such adoration, such warmth and such longing, his son was deeply in love with the person he was supposed to spend his life with.


	30. Chapter 30

The past two months had gone by in the blink of an eye for Will and Elizabeth. During the middle of February, Will had moved his father and Alice into the flat that he had rented for the two of them and both were now settled into a routine which revolved around Reginald's life as he adjusted to remain sober. So far, Darcy Sr. had been sober for four months, he was responding well to the support group that he attended once a week in Watford and after an appointment at the liver treatment centre at the hospital in London, Reginald was due to have his operation via live donation from Will.

Georgiana had found it difficult to accept the decision that her brother was going to be the one to donate a section of liver to their father. But having attended Reginald's meeting at the liver treatment centre, the specialists stated that despite the fact that Georgiana was a match for Reginald, they preferred donors to be over the age of eighteen and she was two years away from reaching that age. With Reginald and Will agreeing that it would be better for Will to donate, Georgiana grumbled her agreement and they left the hospital with a date of the 5th June.

Will and Elizabeth had now been living in their own home for six weeks now, with the deeds to the house now officially in their names. The house was decorated how they wanted it to be, with Rose's room the brightest shade of purple paint that they could find in the local Homebase store. They had decided on a cream and pale red colour scheme for their living room, with a wooden style, laminate flooring in the downstairs and upstairs rooms, with the only parts of floor covered by carpets were the halls and the stairs. They were yet to test the fireplace in the living room, the weather had come over as an early summer, with temperatures so hot that Elizabeth was already being fooled that it was the summer months.

Not long after they had moved in to their new house, they had taken Rose on the trip to Disneyland Paris that William had given to her for Christmas. It was their first little holiday away as a family and it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience for the three of them; with Rose being the most excited that Elizabeth had ever seen her daughter. It was a dream come true for Rose, who had been hooked on Disney since she was a baby especially the Disney princess films, and the favourite part of the holiday for Rose wasn't the rides, the restaurants or the parades, it was getting to do the meet and greets with her favourite characters. After four days and three nights spent in the park, they returned to their new home with Rose asking to go again someday to get the signatures of the princesses that she hadn't had the chance to meet and greet during their visit in her little autograph book that Will had bought for her during their first day there.

But now, they were preparing for Rose's fourth birthday and Will was a little nervous because it was his first one that he would be spending with Rose. Because they knew that their daughter was princess mad, Elizabeth had looked online at a local company who did Disney princess pamper parties and Rose was looking forward to spending the day in one of her dress-up outfits with her friends being pampered like a princess.

"Bella says she's goin' as Cinderella and Maisie as Anna from Frozen." Rose informed them that Thursday night at dinner.

Will smiled at his daughter, chewing on his mashed potato, amazed at how Rose could talk and eat almost at the same time.

"I haven't seen Frozen yet." Will replied.

Elizabeth widened her eyes, "Okay, you've been here for six months and you've watched Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Tangled, The Princess and the Frog, Sleeping Beauty, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid and Pocahontas with Rose so many times that I've lost count, and you haven't even watched Frozen with her?" she asked quite loudly.

Will shrugged, "Our daughter is adamant that I know the names of the dwarves off by heart that I don't even need to look at pictures." He said in defence.

"Can we watch Frozen after dinner, daddy?" Rose asked, scooping up another spoonful of peas and placing it in her mouth.

"Maybe. What's it about?"

Rose swallowed the peas whole without even chewing or coughing.

"It's 'bout this girl called Elsa who's magic but no-one likes her magic, it's scary. Her sister Anna, tries to find her and bring her home. She thinks she loves this bad man called Hans, but then she meets Kristoff and reindeer Sven-"

"Okay Rose, don't spoil it for your dad." Elizabeth interrupted with a smile.

Rose rolled her eyes as she stood up on the chair before turning around and wiggling her bottom.

"Watch out for my butt!" Rose giggled.

"Rose Olivia Bennet!" Elizabeth laughed.

The little girl sat back down on her seat and continued to eat the rest of her dinner as Will looked at Elizabeth with a puzzled expression, only to have his girlfriend simply say: "Just watch the film and you'll understand."

Once the three of them had finished eating dinner, they didn't have time to watch Frozen in the end; it was getting late and Rose was already getting tired. Will cleared the table as Elizabeth went upstairs to wash Rose and put her to bed. As he was doing the drying up, his girlfriend appeared in the kitchen and wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him from behind.

"Already asleep?" Will asked.

"Pretty much, she was nodding off as I finished reading her a bedtime story." Elizabeth replied.

Will placed the last of the plates in the cupboard and turned around to face his girlfriend, placing a light kiss to her lips before placing his hands on her hips as her own wound around his neck.

"There's something I've been meaning to ask you." Will said quietly.

One of her eyebrows raised but she didn't say anything, Will took this as a sign to continue talking.

"Listen, I know that you don't want to have a relationship with my father which is perfectly okay with me, I know that he's apologised to you and you've been civil to him whenever your paths have crossed those few occasions since he showed up at Longbourn to talk to you. But I was talking with him earlier today. He wants to come and meet Rose but I told him that I would have to talk to you about it first." Will explained.

Her eyes widened slightly and she exhaled sharply.

"If you don't want him to, I'll tell him that he can't." Will added quickly.

"I don't think he deserves to be in her life, not after what he did but I told him that it wasn't up to me. I told him that the difference between us was that I wanted our daughter to make her own decisions, including the people she wants in her life." Elizabeth replied.

"So…."

Elizabeth sighed heavily, "So, I think I should stick by what I've said to him. I think that we should ask Rose if she wants to meet him. If she does, then you can take her to meet him but if not then he'll have to accept her decision." She said.

"But you haven't told Rose about what he's done to us, don't you think she should know?" Will asked.

Elizabeth shrugged, "She's nearly four, she wouldn't understand the reasons behind your father's actions and I don't want her coming up in her mind that she's the reason for it. I don't want her to blame herself when she's not to blame for any of it. Also, I don't want to make my feelings about your father known to Rose when I want her to make her own choices, I don't want my feelings to influence her decisions."

"You're amazing, do you know that?"

"I just want her to feel like she can do whatever she likes when it comes to her life. If she wants to have a relationship with your father then she can, one day if she asks about why you weren't in her life for those first three and a half years and she's old enough to understand, then we can tell her if she wants to know."

"You've done an amazing job with her, she's an incredible little girl." Will said with pride.

"I tried my best, that's all I can do. Besides, when you told me how you felt suffocated by your father's pressures and expectations when we were in Spain, I didn't want to inflict certain expectations on Rose as she got older." Elizabeth said quietly.

"Alright, shall we discuss it with Rose in the morning whether she wants to meet my dad or not?" Will asked.

"We can do it at breakfast. When does your father want to meet her?"

"He said preferably before her birthday but I told him that would be a discussion for us and he would have to accept the decision we came to."

"We can discuss it with Rose tomorrow morning."

Will smiled, running his fingers up the sides of her body until they tangled themselves into her hair and began to play with the locks that fell over her shoulders.

"Have you got work late tomorrow?" Will whispered.

Elizabeth nodded with a pout forming on her lips.

"I do, SATS booster classes." Elizabeth replied

"Then I should probably make the most of my time with you tonight." He whispered against her lips.

Elizabeth sighed happily into the kiss he planted on her and pressed herself closer to him. They kissed in a slow pace, with Will lifting her to sit on the kitchen counter and wrapping her legs around his waist. Elizabeth broke the kiss, breathing heavily and opened her eyes and smiled up at him.

"I think we should have an early night." Elizabeth whispered.

"I agree," Will murmured, "I am rather enjoying all of these early nights lately."

"Same here, you should probably make the most of it now. When I fall pregnant, you won't like it so much."

"What makes you say that?"

"Pregnancy can be a great thing to experience but it can be quite rough. The morning sickness and the constant tiredness and when I get bigger I'll be more emotional because I can't see my feet."

Will laughed.

"It won't put me off, I want to experience everything with you. Even if you get a weird craving at three in the morning."

"You wouldn't get up at three in the morning to go and buy me something to satisfy my weird cravings." Elizabeth said.

Will nodded seriously.

"Yes I would, I love you and those weird cravings is what our child and you need. You'd be carrying our child for the second time so it's my job to take care of you."

Feeling so happy in this moment, Elizabeth pressed her lips back to his and carried on what he had initially started minutes ago. Will lifted her from the counter and moved from the kitchen, continuing to kiss her as he carried her up the stairs to their bedroom.

ooOoo

The next morning, Elizabeth walked downstairs to find that Will was already up with Rose. She went to sit at the table, giving Will a kiss before sitting next to her daughter. Will looked at her, silently asking whether now was the time if they should talk to Rose about meeting Reginald and Elizabeth nodded.

"Rosie, there's something that me and daddy wanted to talk to you about." Elizabeth started.

Their daughter stopped eating her cereal and looked up at them quizzically.

"Remember when you asked me who the poorly man was at the wedding?" Will asked.

Rose nodded.

"I 'member. He's your daddy." Rose replied.

"That's right." Said Will.

"Well, Reginald would like to meet you." Elizabeth said gently.

Rose pulled a funny face.

"Do I have to call him grandad?" Rose asked.

"No. You can call him Reg if you like." Will replied, a little too quickly.

"Okay 'cause grandad might be sad if I do."

Elizabeth looked up at Will and exhaled heavily, she wasn't entirely comfortable with his father meeting their little girl but she didn't want to keep Rose from having Reginald in her life if that's what she wanted. But on the plus side, she felt fine with Rose making the decision not to call Reginald 'grandad'.

"Well, he'd like to meet you today. Would that be okay?" Will asked.

"Is mummy coming too?"

Elizabeth shook her head.

"I'll be at work darling, it'll be just you and daddy." Elizabeth said softly.

"Okay."

Rose went back to eating her cereal as Elizabeth and Will moved from their seats to go and talk privately in the kitchen, with Will shutting the door to a close behind him.

"Well, she didn't have too many questions." Will said.

"I want you to promise me something." Elizabeth replied quietly.

"What is it?"

"If your father makes Rose feel uncomfortable or if he's unpleasant or rude in any way, I want you to get her out of there straight away."

Will nodded,

"I give you my word, he won't have the chance."

"Thank you."

Giving him a brief kiss, she left the kitchen and gave her daughter a goodbye kiss before heading out of the front door to go to work.

ooOoo

After picking Rose up from pre-school, Will drove to the flat where his father and Alice were now living. This morning after Elizabeth had left, he called his father to let him know that Rose did want to meet him and his father had been thrilled, inviting them round for lunch. They got out of the car and walked up to the front door, knocking three times before Alice came to let them in.

Once they were in the living room, his father was already sat on the sofa, smiling happily when Rose entered the room.

"You must be Rose." Reginald said brightly.

"Yup."

"My name is Reginald."

"That's a long name like my daddy."

Will caught his father's eye, biting his lip to prevent the laughter from coming out because he guessed what was coming next.

"I suppose it is." Reginald said, smiling at the little girl.

"I'm gonna call you Reg Veg." Rose announced.

His father didn't look too impressed at the nickname that Rose had given him but he didn't say anything. Reginald just simply carried on smiling at Rose.

"That's a funny nickname."

"My daddy had an even funny one." Rose informed Reginald.

"Really? What was your daddy's?" Reginald asked.

Rose snorted and burst into a fit of giggles.

"He's called Fizz."

Reginald gave a little chuckle. As Will accepted a cup of tea from Alice and sat in one of the empty armchairs, he watched as his father gifted Rose with a colouring pad and a packet of crayons and the two began drawing pictures together, with his father listening to Rose tell him about her friends, her pre-school, what she liked to do and then Alice brought placed a plate of sandwiches down on the table and the four of them began to help themselves.

After lunch, Will watched as his father continued to interact with Rose and just as he observed them, he felt like his father was a completely different person to the man he had known for the past couple of years. His father had caused a lot of hurt and damage because of his lies and schemes but it seemed that his illness was making his father realise that he had been in the wrong the entire time and was trying to make an effort with him, with Georgie and now with Rose. For the first time in recent years, he saw his father genuinely smile at his little girl and just like he had, his father was developing a connection with Rose.

"Daddy said you're poorly." Rose said, completely out of the blue.

The room paused for a minute. With Reginald looking uncertainly at Will and Will looking back at his father, unsure of how to respond to what Rose had said.

"I am." Reginald confirmed.

"Is it bad?" Rose asked.

But his father neither confirmed or denied to Rose if his illness was bad or not.

"The doctors are going to make me better." Reginald smiled.

"Do you have special medicine?"

"I do, Alice gives it to me and watches me take it."

"Oh…my aunty Lydia doesn't like medicine too."

"Some medicines can taste funny." Reginald said softly.

"I know…my grandad takes somethin' called gavscon-"

"Gaviscon, Rose." Will corrected.

"Yeah, he says it tastes horrible."

"It does taste horrible. Your grandad has to take it when he gets heartburn."

Rose looked confused.

"What's heartburn?" she asked.

"It's when you get a little pain in your chest after you eat." Reginald replied.

Will had to give his father some credit, he knew how to keep answers to Rose's question simple in a way that she might understand. They stayed for a little while longer, with Will playing with Rose and mucking around, lifting her in the air and making her squeal whilst his father watched the two of them until his phone beeped; alerting him to a text message from Elizabeth saying that her SATs booster class had been cancelled for the evening because most of the two year six classes were off sick because of a recent chicken pox epidemic currently going around Meryton Primary.

"We should go; Elizabeth is on her way home from work." Will announced.

Reginald nodded.

"Okay son, thank you for bringing Rose with you." Reginald thanked him.

"Bye Reg Veg, can I come again?" Rose asked.

Reginald looked up at Will, uncertain of how to answer.

"It's the two week Easter holidays next week, I'll talk to Elizabeth." Will promised.

Reginald beamed happily.

"Bye Rose, I'm sure we'll see you again." His father said.

Will and Rose said their goodbyes to his father and Alice, leaving the two of them to discuss how the day had gone.

"Well, what did you think?" Alice asked.

"She's a delightful child, quite cheeky in fact." Reginald chuckled.

"And curious, she didn't hesitate to ask you questions."

"I was a little nervous if I'm honest. I didn't know how to interact with Rose at first."

"You let her take the lead when you were colouring and you took an interest when she told you about her likes and when she talked about her pre-school. I think you handled this first meeting rather well." Alice said confidently.

"I just hope that I get more meetings with her, I really fucked things up for her and she doesn't even know does she?" Reginald asked.

"I don't know whether Fitzwilliam or Elizabeth have told the girl what you did but I can imagine that if they had, she wouldn't have been so friendly towards you." Alice replied.

"I was so wrong to do what I've done. The person I was back then, I can't even believe that I allowed myself to become that person."

"You weren't always that person Reg, you know that. Just seeing how you interacted with Rose, I saw a glimpse of the man that you used to be, the man I know you can be again."

"I want to be but I'm scared and seeing the bond that my son has formed with his daughter, I was such a prick. That bond is strong, there is no doubt about that but it would have been stronger if I hadn't interfered into something I should have left alone." Reginald stated.

"It's not going to get better overnight but you're making the effort, I think Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam know that but with time, you can have positive relationships with your children once again." Alice reassured him.

"Maybe. I want that more than anything which is why I've made a decision."

Alice frowned.

"What decision?"

"Watching the way Fitzwilliam played with Rose, he's a devoted father and in two months he'll be donating part of his liver to me and there's a long road to recovery after that if the operation is successful. He won't be able to play with her the way he was playing with her today. I've already taken three and a half years away from that little girl, I can't take anything else away from her." Reginald stated.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm calling the treatment centre in the morning, I'm calling them to let them know that I won't be using live donation to save my life."

* * *

 **A/N:** So, a bit of a time jump in this one. What did you think of Reginald's time with Rose? Anyone surprised at his decision?

I'm hoping to have the next chapter up before the month is out, if not it'll be up by the end of the first week of September.


	31. Chapter 31

**A/N:** As always, thanks to those of you reviewed the last chapter, I liked reading what you thought about Reginald's decision.

This chapter follows on from that, with a nice little surprise in there as well. I hope to update again by 10th September.

* * *

When Reginald Darcy had made the decision not to go ahead with a live liver donation from his son, he thought he was making the right choice. Spending time with his granddaughter had shown him that he had well and truly, fucked things up. Rose was an amazing little girl who was willing to talk to him and give him the time of day, of course she didn't know what he had done to her parents and to her, and seeing his son interact with her made him realise that in the seven months he had known about his daughter, Fitzwilliam was a better father than he had been to his own children. The decision he had made was one he knew had to be done, he couldn't take more time away from Rose and her family. The way Reginald saw it was that he was trying to make amends for past behaviour by stopping his son from donating a part of his liver which would mean he'd still be able to be active with Rose and he wouldn't require Elizabeth to take care of him after a major operation.

But here he was. Sat on the sofa in the flat his son was renting during his recovery from alcoholism, feeling like he was naughty child being told off. Except he wasn't a child, he was a parent being scolded by his twenty-five-year-old son.

"Thank fuck Alice called me last week and told me about your crazy idea!" Fitzwilliam ranted for the fourth time since his arrival ten minutes ago, "Thank god she took away your phone to stop you from calling the centre. Are you on the booze again?"

Reginald shook his head.

"No son, I was going to talk to you about my decision."

"You aren't really in a position to turn down a liver donation!" Fitzwilliam shouted.

"Fitzwilliam, I know you're willing to go ahead with the donation but I'm not. Not from you. I'll ask to be put on the waiting list." Reginald replied calmly.

"If you do that, you're potentially looking at a long waiting time. Livers aren't exactly in big supply dad, the average waiting time for an adult from a deceased donor is one hundred and forty-five days and they told us at the treatment centre that the maximum they've ever had a patient wait for a liver is eighteen months! You can't live the way you are for that long!"

"I'll have to; I don't care about that. I can't have you be my donor because it would mean giving up being the father you are to Rose."

His son looked confused.

"Explain." His son said.

"If the operation is a success, it's a two week stay in hospital followed by another six to eight weeks of recovery before you'll be allowed to start being active again. If I allowed you to be my donor, you wouldn't be able to chase Rose around the park, you wouldn't be able to lift her into bed, you wouldn't be able to grab her and tickle her when you're both in a playful mood. I already took three and a half years away from that little girl, I can't take away any more time that she has with you."

His son's expression softened and it seemed that Fitzwilliam seemed to understand the reason for his decision. Fitzwilliam sat on the chair opposite him, sighing deeply as they made eye contact once more.

"I get your reasons for this, I do. I can even somewhat admire you for this choice but I also think you're a little stupid. This isn't a game, dad, it's life or death we're talking about here." Fitzwilliam stated.

"I haven't made this decision lightly, it's all I've thought about when you brought Rose here for the afternoon. I want to be better, a better parent, a better person in order to be a grandparent to Rose if you and Elizabeth will allow me to be." Reginald replied.

"There's being a better person by admitting you made mistakes and apologising and trying to make amends like you have been since your hospital stay in January. And then there's making choices that could kill you. By making this choice you're essentially only being a better parent to me and being a worse one to Georgie."

"How am I being a worse one to Georgiana?"

"She's sixteen dad; she needs her father around. By making this choice you are only going to get worse and eventually that would result in your death if we couldn't get a match for you on the waiting list." Fitzwilliam replied.

"We'll talk to her, make her understand-"

"She's hardly accepted that I was going to be the donor. Georgie won't take this well and I doubt she'll accept your choice."

"Well she's going to have to." Reginald said harshly.

"No she's not 'going to have to', she's not a little girl any more. She's going to be devastated if you go ahead with this." Fitzwilliam replied.

"I know she is." Reginald sighed.

The pause between them was a brief one, with Fitzwilliam clearing his throat before speaking again.

"Here's what we're going to do. We'll call the treatment centre and make an appointment to speak to the consultant, when we're there we'll say that I'm not in the position to donate any more if that's what you really want, because I'm fine going ahead with this and Elizabeth is supportive of my decision to do so." Fitzwilliam said.

"It is." Reginald confirmed.

"Fine. We'll talk about other alternatives that are available to you and we'll go from there. In the meantime, it's Rose's birthday party tomorrow and Georgie's coming to stay with us when her flight gets at Heathrow, Charles is picking her up for me. After the party, you can talk to Georgie about this and keep her involved. You have to realise that she's not really a child any more, she needs to be kept informed of your decisions about something this serious." Fitzwilliam stated.

He knew that even with this new plan, his son wasn't completely happy with his decision and he was dreading speaking to Georgiana about it because his son was right, Georgiana would be upset. But the decision was made and he knew what it meant, he knew that he could die if he was put on the waiting list but he was happy to make that sacrifice if it meant that his son finally got to be happy with the love of his life and the child who deserved to have the family he had tried to prevent all those years ago.

"I've got to go, I told Elizabeth that I wouldn't be away too long and I'd help out with the party decorations." Fitzwilliam announced.

Reginald nodded, "I'll see you tomorrow son." He said.

With nothing else said, his son left the flat and left him and Alice alone.

"Why did you go to him; I was going to talk to him about it." Reginald grumbled.

Alice rolled her eyes.

"I know you would have talked to Fitzwilliam, _after_ you had already made the phone call to the treatment centre, he needed to know before you did something stupid. Besides, you're lucky that he wasn't here the day I called him, he had to go to Pemberley to ensure the estate is running smoothly." Alice replied.

"I suppose so, in a way, I'm lucky that he's even willing to go back home for a few days and update the paperwork." Reginald sighed.

"Georgiana's flight will get in a few hours; I hope she had a nice time in Italy with her friends, not a bad way to start the Easter holiday." Alice said quietly.

"Georgie's going to hate me when we talk to her tomorrow, isn't she?"

Alice gave him a reassuring smile and shook her head as she sat next to him on the sofa. Taking his hand into hers, she gave it a little squeeze.

"She's not going to hate you, she loves you. Will she be happy with your choice? No, she won't be but just do what Fitzwilliam said, talk it through at the treatment centre and see what options are available to you and then make another choice if you really don't want to go through with the donation from Fitzwilliam."

"I don't. I can't." Reginald said quietly.

"Don't think any more about it tonight. Tomorrow is the time to think about it all. Now, I'll go and put the dinner on."

Alice let go of his hand and stood up, heading across to the kitchen to preheat the oven. Reginald watched her and he knew that he wasn't as strong a person as Alice Reynolds was. Even after all the years and recent months of putting up with his crap, she was still here taking care of him, reassuring him and believing in him and he wasn't sure what he had done to deserve a friend like Alice.

ooOoo

William returned home not long after leaving his father's flat, feeling out of sorts. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel about the conversation he had had with his father. When Alice had called him and told him what his father was going to do, he had been livid. He had initially thought that his father was making this decision for attention but having heard him out, his father simply wanted to do right by him for the first time in forever. But now, he wasn't sure how to feel. Was he supposed to feel angry with his father for this decision, that could kill him because he might go on the waiting list? Or was he supposed to feel happy and grateful for his father's decision because it meant that his father truly was seeing the error of his ways?

Letting out a sigh, he opened the front door to his house and quietly closed it behind him as he stood in the hallway. He could hear the TV on low volume and poked his head around the door to see Rose was sat quietly on the sofa watching Sophia the First. The living room was partially decorated for Rose's princess pamper party the next day, covered in pink banners and streamers hanging over the walls and down from the ceiling whilst Elizabeth was in the kitchen preparing their dinner for the evening.

"Lizzy, I'm back." Will called, popping into the living room to give Rose a quick kiss on the head.

"I'm making Shepherd's Pie for dinner." She called back.

Rose smiled up at her father before returning her attention to the TV and Will decided to leave his daughter to her show and went out into the kitchen; shutting the door behind him, not wanting Rose to hear him and her mother talk about his father's decision.

"Everything okay with Reginald?" Elizabeth asked, giving him a quick kiss.

"Not really, he's definitely not going ahead with me as a donor. He wants to go on the waiting list and his reason for making this choice is because he thinks if I do go ahead with the donation, he'd be taking more time away from Rose with me." Will replied, still trying to get his head around it.

Elizabeth smiled sympathetically as she placed the dish into the oven and closed the door. Turning around, she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Is that what he said?"

Will nodded.

"He thinks that if I do this then it means months of not being able to be active with Rose and not being able to do certain things with her and to him that means he's taking away more father/daughter time."

"Your father has a point, the operation is a major one and it requires a lot of time to heal and there's also risks that go with the operation."

"I'm aware of the risks."

"So what's going to happen now?" Elizabeth asked.

"I told him that we'll make an appointment at the treatment centre to discuss options available now that he doesn't want to go with live donation from me and tomorrow after the party, he's going to come here and talk to Georgie, if that's okay with you."

"It's fine, I can take Rose to Longbourn for a little while so you can talk privately."

"Thank you, for being so supportive through this." Will muttered against her lips.

Elizabeth smiled and placed another kiss to his lips, a little longer this time before she pulled away.

"It's fine, I'm always here for you, you know that." Elizabeth replied.

"I know you are. So, can we leave the discussion about my father for another time?" Will asked.

"Of course. In fact, I've got a surprise for you, I think it might cheer you up after a stressful few days sorting out Pemberley paperwork."

Will raised an eyebrow as Elizabeth pulled out a velvet box, long enough to indicate that it would hold a bracelet of some sort.

"You got me jewellery?" Will asked, a little laugh in his voice as he took the box from her.

"Open it and find out." Elizabeth said.

He followed her instructions and his eyes widened to find that inside the velvet box, was not a bracelet, but a long, white stick.

"What's this?" he asked.

"Well I don't know how familiar you are with the pregnancy section at the pharmacy. But that, darling, is a pregnancy test with a plus sign in the window if you look carefully." Elizabeth laughed.

Will's eyes looked at the little window to see that there was, indeed, a pink plus symbol.

"Are we…are you…Lizzy…" he stammered.

Elizabeth grinned like a Cheshire cat and nodded.

"Yes, I'm pregnant. I'm having our baby, Will." She squealed happily.

Will returned her grin as he lifted her off the floor and kissed her. It was this moment that he knew was one of the happiest moments of his life, finding out she was having their baby for the second time. When he placed her back on the floor, he cupped her face in his hands; tears of happiness leaking from both of their eyes.

"How far along do you think?" he asked quietly.

Elizabeth shrugged and gave a happy, teary laugh.

"I'm not sure, no more than six weeks but we'll get a due date at the first scan." Elizabeth replied.

"So you could be six weeks?"

"I could be, but the tests I've taken before now were negative, it sometimes takes a while to show up on a test as positive. When my mum was pregnant with Lydia, the pregnancy didn't show up on a test until she was about nine weeks along."

"Have you told Rose?" Will asked.

Elizabeth shook her head.

"Not yet. I did debate whether I should have customised a t-shirt saying 'I'm going to be a big sister' but it's still early so I thought I'd just announce it to you the way I did."

"That would have been cute." Will said happily.

"It would but let's wait until we have the first scan."

"Of course. Oh god, your parents are getting two grandchildren within a short period of time between them."

"My mother will be all over the babies. Jane is still trying to tell her that she's not calling her baby Martha."

"Martha Bingley, not a bad ring to it."

"Mum's always liked the name Martha apparently, but dad refused to let one of us have it as a name. Besides, I think Jane and Charles have settled on a name now."

Will laughed.

"Did Jane agree to Scarlett?" he asked.

Elizabeth laughed, remembering the conversation that she'd had with Jane when her sister announced that she and Charles were having a baby girl.

"No, I think her argument was sound. Imagine my niece being called Scarlett when she might inherit the famous Bingley red hair."

"Jane had a point in refusing the name, the poor kid would've been picked in for having the name as a shade of red and having red hair."

"We'll have to pick our names out soon."

"Not too soon, we've got a long way to go before then."

With another quick kiss, Will opened the kitchen door and went to sit with Rose whilst Elizabeth checked the dinner. Both feeling giddy with excitement and happiness that their little family of three were soon going to become a family of four.

ooOoo

The next morning Elizabeth woke up early and after drinking a cup of tea and eating a slice of toast, she got to work preheating the oven to cook the chicken nuggets, pizza and sausage rolls so that they would be ready in time for when Rose's three friends from pre-school came over for the princess pamper party. The company were due to come to the house at half past ten to set up areas for hair curling and areas for the girls to have their nails painted and light makeup applied.

When the chicken nuggets had finished cooking, Elizabeth placed them on top of the oven to slightly cool down before she placed them onto a plate to cover them in clingfilm. As she put the pizzas in the oven, Georgiana came into the kitchen.

"Thanks for letting me stay with you." Georgiana said warmly.

Elizabeth smiled, closing the oven door.

"Don't be silly, you're welcome to stay any time." She replied.

"You and Will have a great place together, I'm really happy that things have worked out so well."

"Me too, after all the drama with Eleanor, Caroline and Wickham, we've settled into a nice routine."

"Has Rose decided on what dress she's going to wear to her pamper party yet?" Georgiana asked.

Elizabeth shook her head.

"The thing with Rose is that she doesn't have just one favourite Disney princess, she likes all of them. So she's got every dress in her dress-up box but she's outgrown her Rapunzel one, so me and Will bought her a new one. She'll make her mind up eventually, most likely half an hour before the party people get here to set up." She explained.

"Will said she's an early riser, is eight o'clock a lay in for her?"

Elizabeth nodded.

"I thought that she'd be up at three in the morning like she was at Christmas but when I checked on her an hour ago, she was still fast asleep. William will probably wake her up when he finishes in the shower."

"Is there anything I can do?"

Shaking her head, Elizabeth turned to put the kettle on and then went back to face Georgiana.

"Go and relax, I'll let you know if I need any help."

A few minutes after Georgiana left Elizabeth in the kitchen, Will came in and wrapped his arms around her as she made a cup of tea for everyone, his hands cradling her stomach.

"Morning beautiful." He whispered in her ear.

She turned her head to the side and placed a kiss to his lips before returning to making the tea.

"Did you get enough sleep?" Will asked.

"Plenty, it will be a few more weeks before I start needing to take naps." Elizabeth said quietly.

"Just let me know what you need."

"I will but right now I need to finish cooking food for our daughter's party, can you go and wake Rose so that she can open her birthday presents?" Elizabeth asked.

Will nodded, kissing her cheek before leaving the kitchen and headed back upstairs. Minutes later, Elizabeth was in the living room drinking her cup of tea with Georgiana as Will emerged with an excited looking Rose.

"Happy birthday baby girl!" Elizabeth greeted happily.

Will placed Rose on the floor and sat with her as Elizabeth passed her daughter a present from the little pile next to her. One by one, Rose opened her birthday presents and was happy to receive all of them, from the colouring pads that Georgiana had bought her to the dress-up sets that she got from her parents and the DVD's and toys. Once the teas had been drunk, Rose went upstairs to get changed into her new Rapunzel dress as Will ran the hoover around just as the company turned up. As Will finished the hoovering and Elizabeth had finished cooking the food and placing it on to plates, her boyfriend entered the kitchen.

"I've just had a text from my dad, he wants to give Rose a birthday present if that's okay with you." Will said.

"It's fine with me, I'll text my dad and say we'll be coming over a little bit later than planned so that your dad can have a few minutes with Rose." Elizabeth replied.

"Okay, I'll ask him to come over at two o'clock. That's when this pamper thing ends right?" Will asked.

Elizabeth nodded, putting clingfilm on the plates to cover the food.

"It's eleven until two, the have two hours of pampering and then an hour to eat this food." Elizabeth confirmed.

Kissing her cheek, Will left the kitchen. Elizabeth heard the doorbell ring and the front door open, with Will showing the party people into the house to show them where to set up as she and Georgiana began to place the food on to the table so that it was ready for the children to eat after the pampering.

ooOoo

The pamper party had to be the most relaxed kid's party that Will had ever seen. Rose and her three friends, Bella, Maisie and Louisa, had all sat at different areas, with Rose having her hair done, whilst Louisa was having a light blush applied to her cheeks and the other two were having their nails painted and each of the girls were talking politely to the pamper staff about their favourite Disney princesses whilst a Disney soundtrack played quietly in the background.

Once all of the girls had their hairs styled, faces lightly applied with eyeshadow and blush and their nails painted in different shades of pinks and purples, they all sat at the dining table and helped themselves to some food as the pamper staff cleared away their belongings before saying goodbye.

"I have to say, this pamper party wasn't what I expected." Will said quietly to Elizabeth.

"What do you mean?" Elizabeth asked.

"I thought it would be more hectic."

"Well, this is what she wanted for her birthday, I'm just happy she had a good time."

"I can't believe she's four." Will smiled, watching as Georgiana poured the four girls some juice.

"I know; she's growing up too quickly. We'll soon be shopping for school uniform." Elizabeth sighed.

Will kissed her forehead lightly.

"Soon we'll have another baby and Rose will be an amazing big sister." Will whispered.

"Knowing her she'll be up with us at three in the morning to help with the night feeds." Elizabeth muttered.

"I certainly will be."

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow.

"We'll take it in turns, besides, we have a while before we have to worry about that." Elizabeth said quietly, placing a kiss to his lips before taking some of the empty bowls back into the kitchen.

It wasn't long before the children had finished eating, with Rose saying goodbye and thanking her friends as they were picked by their parents. Just as Bella was leaving with her parents, his own father tuned up at the front door with Alice, holding a wrapped birthday present and a card.

"Hello son." Reginald greeted.

"Hi dad, come on in." Will greeted back, standing aside so that his father and Alice could step into the hallway.

Once Reginald and Alice were in the hallway and the front door was closed behind them, Will took their jackets and led them into the living room where Reginald greeted Georgiana before saying a polite hello to Elizabeth.

"Happy Birthday Rose." Reginald said, sitting down on the sofa and handing the present and card over to Rose.

"Thanks, Reg Veg." Rose replied.

Rose teared the wrapping paper off the present, eyes glistening with excitement as she looked at the Sophia the First playset that Reginald had gifted to her for her birthday.

"I hope you like it." Reginald said softly.

"I love it, you 'membered I like princesses." Rose replied.

Reginald nodded.

"I did remember."

"Mummy, can me and Reg Veg play with it now?" Rose asked.

"Maybe later Rosie. We have to go to Longbourn so you can open presents from Nanny, Grandad, Jane, Charlie, Lydia, Mary and Kitty." Elizabeth replied.

"Okay…" Rose mumbled.

"Is it okay to stay for a little while to spend more time with her?" Reginald asked Elizabeth.

Will watched as his girlfriend hesitated for a few seconds before nodding in agreement. Rose said goodbye to everyone and left with Elizabeth.

"So, what is it you wanted to talk about dad?" Georgiana asked.

Everyone sat down, with the look on Reginald's face causing Will to see the sudden realisation come to Georgiana that the conversation that they were all about to have wasn't going to be a pleasant one.

"Georgie, sweetheart, I've decided not to go ahead with using a live donation from Fitzwilliam." Reginald announced.

Georgiana looked from her father to Will and the look on her face turned from dread at having a difficult conversation to rage. It was the first time he had ever seen his little sister look so angry and in that moment, it scared Will to be on the receiving end of that anger.

"Are you drinking again?" Georgiana asked through gritted teeth.

"No." Reginald confirmed.

A few short, agitated breaths came from his sister, but Will decided not to speak just yet.

"Why? Why would you decide this now? You've only got a few more weeks until the operation. Why would you want to not get better?" Georgiana shouted.

Reginald winced.

"I don't want your brother to go through with the operation because it would mean taking him away from Rose, and I can't do that anymore."

"It didn't bother you the first three and half years that Rose went without him." Georgiana hissed.

"Cheap shot Georgie, we can't keep bringing that up when dad is trying to make amends." Will scolded.

His sister turned to face him, her eyes very watery but she didn't want to cry just yet.

"You expect me to be okay with the fact that our father has decided not to go through with accepting half of your liver?" Georgiana asked him.

Will shook his head.

"No I don't. What I do expect is to hear him out." Will replied softly.

Sighing, Georgiana turned her attention back to Reginald.

"I have an appointment at the treatment centre next week to discuss options with the consultant. I'll see if I can go on the waiting list-"

"There's a very high chance you might die before a liver becomes available if you do that. What about me? I was a match-"

"The consultant already told you that the prefer people over the age of eighteen when doing transplants." Reginald stated.

"But if I'm the only other option available, they won't have a choice." Georgiana cried.

"I won't allow you to get cut open and put your life on hold-"

"Stop trying to dictate what I can or can't do with my life. I can put off sixth form for another year, it doesn't bother me. I can recover and stay at Pemberley and look after you. Please, dad, at least let the consultant consider me as a option before you put yourself on that waiting list." Georgiana pleaded.

Will watched as his father's expression softened at the tears that were now flowing freely down Georgiana's cheeks and he could tell that his father was going to cave in to Georgiana's plea.

"Come to the appointment with me and you can discuss it with the consultant, but I'm not making any promises. If the consultant says that they won't consider you for the operation, leave it be Georgie."

"I just want them to consider me as an option. What kind of daughter would I be, knowing that I'm a match for you the transplant you need and not going through with it?"

"Right now, you're a determined daughter to disobey my wishes." Reginald grumbled.

"Your wishes to put yourself in a grave long before necessary." Georgiana said harshly.

"Georgie!"

"What if there was another option?" Alice asked.

All three Darcys turned to look at Alice, all with the same look of confusion on their faces.

"What do you mean? It's either a donation from me, going on the waiting list or dying." Georgiana pointed out.

"Not necessarily. The consultant explained before they agreed to allow Fitzwilliam to go through with the donation that whilst family members are usually the best people to be a match, sometimes transplants happen without a family member being a match." Alice clarified.

Reginald frowned.

"You mean; find someone we know who isn't a relative?" Reginald asked.

Alice nodded, "When I've spoken to Norman on the phone to check on how Pemberley is doing, he's told me that most of the staff wish that there was something that they could do to help in the current situation. Why not ask if they're willing to get tested to see if they're a match?" she suggested.

"It might not be a bad idea." Will agreed.

"The chances are slim." Reginald sighed.

"They might be, but isn't it worth giving yourself more options, Reginald?" Alice asked.

With a few minutes of silence, all four thought about everything that had been discussed. Will thought that her idea wasn't a bad one, even if the chances of finding a willing donor among the Pemberley staff was slim, it was worth finding out if there was that option there for them. If not, his father's only choices were to either go on the waiting list or see if the consultant would agree to Georgiana being the donor in his place.

"Alright Alice, call Norman and find out who is willing to get tested and we'll go from there." Reginald said quietly.

Alice smiled, "I'll call him now, the sooner we see who would be willing to get tested the better." She replied, getting up from her seat to go and make a call to Norman in the other room.

"And what if none of the staff are a match?" Georgiana asked.

"Then we'll see what the consultant agrees to."


	32. Chapter 32

**A/N:** I just wanted to say in reply to LMFG, the cirrhosis storyline within my story is something quite complicated when it comes to someone donating part of their liver. To be a live donor, there is a very strict process with lots of assessments which I haven't yet touched up upon but will explain within this chapter. But without giving too much away for the readers of this chapter, in the UK anyone who passes the criteria to be a living donor, whether a relative or not, the tissue and blood has to be a match to the person receiving the donation. The reason I included the Pemberley staff getting tested is because it is an option to consider because they are genuinely concerned about Reginald and wanted to help, it's not unheard of but yes, being on the payroll is definitely a complication to consider. However, in the previous chapter Reginald seemed quite skeptical that his members of staff would be a match so I don't think he would take that route if it were available to him.

Quite a longer chapter than usual, some of you might be hating on Mrs. B a bit and I won't blame you if you do and just another warning, there's been another little time jump in this chapter.

Enjoy!

* * *

Over a period of two months, with it now being the end of June, Georgiana had finished with secondary school and was now awaiting confirmation of how she would be expecting to spend the next year of her life. The meeting with the liver consultant during the Easter holidays, after her father had decided not to go ahead with the transplant from her brother, had gone okay. At first the consultant was a little reluctant to allow her to undergo the transplant and told her that before she could be deemed as a suitable donor, she would have to undergo a very extensive assessment process. The testing to see if she was a match for her father had already been done, but the consultant set up meetings with the surgeon who would potentially carry out the operation and with a psychiatrist.

The meeting with the surgeon had gone well, with the surgeon happy about her current state of health and she was of the right body size to have the operation. But then came the meeting with the psychiatrist where she was asked a lot of questions about how she felt about the operation. The psychiatrist asked her about how she felt about donating, whether she was aware of the long recovery process after the operation, whether she had been told about the risks that came with such a severe operation such as pneumonia, that there could be problems with the anaesthetic, blood clots in the liver and lungs, bleeding that the surgeons couldn't stop, bile leakage, the psychological stress that could come to the donor and the worst one, there was a high risk that the operation might not work and it could result in her death if she went ahead with the operation. How she had remained calm, she didn't know but she simply told the surgeon over and over again that she was perfectly aware of the risks involved with the donation of half of her liver, that she wanted to give her father a second chance at life and help him get better because he was the only parent that she had left. When the meeting with the psychologist was over, she then had to have an interview with an assessor who worked on the transplant team.

It was the assessor's job to determine whether or not the potential donor hadn't been bribed, blackmailed or pressured into donating for the patient and that was the one she had been dreading the most. The interview had been a long one, with the assessor asking a lot of personal questions about her relationship with her father, touching up on the fact that both she and Will hadn't spoke with their father for a period of months and Georgiana had to explain her reasons for her part in that. She explained that she found out that her father had done something terrible to her brother and that had devastated her and when she found out that her father was going to die, that had also devastated her. She explained that her father's condition made her realise that although Reginald had done something terrible, he was genuinely regretting the choices he had made and was trying to make amends now, he was trying to be a better father and he hadn't asked her to be a donor. She wanted to donate half her liver if it meant that she could still have her father around to see her finish her A-levels, to see her start and finish university, to give her away at her wedding one day. Georgiana told the assessor that her father hadn't pressured her at all, he wanted this to be her decision, and her decision alone to be a donor.

And then once the interviews and meetings had concluded, the results came back from the staff at Pemberley who had decided to get tested at the local hospital to see if they could donate to Reginald. As her father expected, none of the staff came back as a match for the donation; except for one.

"Thank you for coming in today." Dr. Knight greeted.

Georgiana, Alice and Reginald took a seat on the other side of the doctor's desk and waited, feeling somewhat impatient. In the past two months, Reginald had led quite a restricting life. He suffered from bad nosebleeds that sometimes took a while to stop because his blood wasn't clotting properly and the pain he was experiencing was growing worse that the doctor had prescribed him stronger pain killers but Reginald still found it hard to walk long distances, so mostly kept inside the flat most days. Georgiana knew that if her father hadn't told Will he didn't want him to donate, he would have already had his operation and would now be coming home if he was well enough to.

"That's okay, Doctor, what news do you have for us?" Reginald asked.

The doctor cleared his throat.

"I've had the reports back from the assessment team regarding whether they think Miss Darcy or Mrs. Reynolds would be a suitable donor for you, Mr. Darcy. The surgeon, the psychiatrist and the assessor have cleared Miss Darcy as a suitable donor for you. They have said that despite her age of sixteen and the fact we usually prefer a donor to be over eighteen for this live liver donation procedure, they believe she is mature enough and is aware of the risks involved and are happy that she hasn't been coerced into this procedure."

Georgiana smiled, happy that she was considered a suitable donor but the look on the doctor's face told her that there was more to be said.

"They have also decided that whilst Mrs. Reynolds is a match and they are happy that she is fully aware of the risks involved with the procedure and she too, hasn't been coerced into being a donor for you, the assessor did have one concern of the fact that Mrs. Reynolds had been in your family's employ for the last forty-two years." The doctor continued.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Reginald asked, "Alice is more than just a staff member, she's always been considered a very good friend. A close friend."

"We are aware of the friendship the two of you have, Mr. Darcy, but the assessor felt that whilst she hadn't been coerced into this decision, the fact that she works for you could cause problems later on if we agreed to allow her to have the operation to donate. The psychiatrist agreed that feelings of resentment to such a severe operation could be felt from her towards you because of her age and the operation being quite a severe surgery, it could limit the tasks she might be able to do and therefore, she may end up considering early retirement or asking for a reduced hours contract." Dr. Knight explained.

Georgiana looked at the disappointed faces of Alice and her smile and happiness at her good news faded, she knew that Alice wanted to spare her from going through the operation ever since they had found out that Alice was a match for her father. Alice had said that she was only sixteen and should be starting her A-levels after the summer was over, she had said that she didn't want her to miss out on everything that her friends were doing but Georgiana didn't mind taking a year off from doing the first year of her A-levels to go through this operation.

"So…you're saying…that Alice can't be the donor?" Reginald asked, trying to take in the news.

Dr. Knight nodded.

"My apologies, but we cannot go ahead with Mrs. Reynolds as your donor for the matter that she is an employee of yours, the team feel that it would be unsuitable."

Alice nodded her understanding but the look of sadness and disappointment remained on her face as Dr. Knight continued to speak with the three of them about the next procedures and re-informing Reginald of the risks now that he had to wait a few more months before he had the transplant.

When the meeting came to an end, the three of them bade goodbye to Dr. Knight and left the consultant's office with a new date of 9th October for both Reginald and Georgiana to undergo the donation surgery and the transplant surgery.

"How do you feel about it?" Georgiana asked.

Alice sighed heavily and Reginald shrugged his shoulders.

"I wanted to spare you from going through a very serious procedure and I feel disappointed that they've told me that I can't do it in your place." Alice admitted.

"I know." Georgiana muttered.

"I said from the start when you and your brother were determined to get tested that I wanted this to be your decision. I'm not exactly thrilled that my sixteen-year-old daughter is going to be the one to do it but I don't really have much choice. It's either have the donation from you in October or go on the waiting list until a liver becomes available from a dead donor." Reginald replied.

The three of them weren't just ready to leave the hospital just yet, all of them decided to go and sit in the little hospital coffee shop to think through what they had just been told. Alice and Reginald went off to find a seat whilst Georgiana joined the queue to get the three of them a hot drink, when she pulled out her phone and switched it back on.

Once the phone had loaded up, her phone beeped to alert her of a new text message. Her eyes scanned through the black and white text.

 _I hope you all get good news today & I might not feel okay with you being the donor, but if it's what you really want, you'll have your big brother's support. W x_

She smiled slightly, knowing that it probably hadn't been easy for Will to text her that message. From the very start, she knew her brother had never been okay with her being the potential donor to their father. When the results came back that they were both a match for their dad and the first meeting with Dr. Knight, Will had flat out refused to allow her to donate and she had been in two minds about her brother's reaction. The first mind was that she felt grateful that William was looking out for her, that he wanted to protect her from such a severe operation. But the second mind was that she felt annoyed and angry that Will was trying to take over the situation and not allow her to voice her opinion because he still saw her as a child in an adult situation. But now she was being the donor for their dad and having her brother's support despite his feelings about the situation meant a lot to her.

Putting her phone back into her pocket, she was called to the cashier and placed her order, hoping that after a hot drink; they would make their way back to Will's to talk to her brother and everything would be okay.

ooOoo

"Mummy, how did the baby get in your tummy?" Rose asked.

Elizabeth looked at Will quite awkwardly, she hadn't been expecting this question from Rose just yet. The sonographer bit her lip to stop the laugh from coming out, but Elizabeth could hear it in the back of her throat.

"Um…Rose…why don't you ask when you're a little older?" Will suggested, watching as the sonographer poured some gel on to Elizabeth's growing stomach.

They were at Watford General Hospital for Elizabeth's twenty-week scan and the only person who they had told was their daughter. At the twelve-week scan, they had detected an abnormality with the baby and they had been taken in to the consultant's office to discuss the problem. They were told that their baby was at high risk of having down's syndrome and were then offered three choices: to terminate the pregnancy, to have an amniocentesis or to leave the hospital and continue with the pregnancy without knowing if their baby definitely had down's syndrome.

Elizabeth had felt devastated by the news. She didn't care whether her child did have down's syndrome but she knew that if the child did, it would be incredibly hard. Raising a child with special needs and a condition would be hard work, with everyday being a new challenge. After discussing it with Will after a few sleepless nights, they both decided that they would continue with the pregnancy but would go ahead with the amniocentesis to find out if their child definitely did have down's syndrome or not; so that they could prepare themselves with how to best care for their child if they did have the condition.

The amniocentesis was the most uncomfortable thing that she had ever experienced. At fifteen weeks into her pregnancy, she was booked into the hospital and with a sonographer monitoring the baby on the ultrasound whilst a senior doctor inserted a needle into her stomach and extracted some of the amniotic fluid to be tested. Once the procedure was over, she was kept on bedrest at home for two days to see whether the risk of miscarriage would happen to her or not.

Those two days had been tough but Will had been great. He had taken Rose to pre-school and picked her up, he waited on her hand and foot, he massaged her feet when she went through a period of worry. Everything he did ensured that she relaxed and although she tried not to worry, the feelings of guilt that she went through this procedure remained with her. What if she did miscarry? But Will, sensing her guilt, assured her that they had talked about it; that they would rather find out now if their child did have down's syndrome so that they could prepare themselves for their child once they arrived and give it the best help and love possible.

But it turned out that they had been worrying over nothing. The results from the amniocentesis came back all clear; their child didn't have any condition and was perfectly healthy. Going away from the hospital with her twenty-week scan booked, they decided to tell their daughter that she was going to have a little brother or sister. Rose had been thrilled at the thought but specifically wanted a little sister because 'boys are icky'.

"Can we tell everyone else today?" Rose asked, watching as the sonographer moved the doppler on her mother's stomach.

"I think we should, Jane's about to have her baby any day now." Elizabeth replied, looking to Will.

"Your mother will be hysterically happy; she might pass out." Will warned.

Elizabeth laughed, looking towards the screen as the sonographer did a very detailed assessment of their baby; taking measurements of each joint of the baby's body and showing Rose who had taken quite an interest in the scan. She felt Will squeeze her hand tightly and just for a second, she looked to her boyfriend and saw him looking at the screen with the same look of interest and curiosity that Rose had. If she had to pick a favourite of hers about her second pregnancy, it was this; seeing how hands on Will was as they experienced everything together. The first time the baby had kicked had been two weeks ago. A proper, strong kick that told both her and William that he or she was definitely there and it made it more real for the both of them. So far, Will had been fantastic. He was always taking care of her if she felt tired, giving her back rubs or foot rubs if she felt sore and went out and bought her ice-cream from the twenty-four-hour shop on the other side of Meryton when she craved ice-cream at four o'clock in the morning.

"Would you like to know the sex of the baby?" the sonographer asked.

Elizabeth looked to Will. This was something they hadn't really discussed yet.

"Do you want to know?" Elizabeth asked.

Will looked down at her.

"I wouldn't mind knowing, how about you?"

"Well…I found out with Rose…I'd like to know again."

With them both in agreement, they turned to the sonographer and nodded. The sonographer smiled and moved the doppler over Elizabeth's stomach, turning it to get a better angle to confirm the baby's sex.

"Congratulations, you're having a boy." The sonographer announced.

A boy. A baby boy. Elizabeth felt Will's lips quickly peck her own before he pulled away and beamed down at her. She was having their son and they'd have one child of each gender.

"Am I gettin' a brother?" Rose asked, looking up at her dad.

Will nodded.

"You are, Rosie. A little brother." Will confirmed happily.

Rose pulled a funny face.

"But boys are icky. Can't we change it?" Rose asked.

Elizabeth sat up on the bed and wiped the gel off her stomach with the tissue that the sonographer had given her.

"Sorry Rosie, it's either one or the other. We don't get to choose." Elizabeth explained.

"'Kay, but I want a sister after this one." Rose muttered.

Will looked at Elizabeth, his eyebrow raised which caused her to roll her eyes. Ever since she had told him about the pregnancy, he kept bringing up the discussion of how soon after having their second child that they would have their third. It was matter that they had different opinions on, with Will wanting a close age gap between them but Elizabeth wanted to be able to return to work for a period of time before conceiving their third child. But right now, she just wanted to enjoy the rest of this pregnancy and then focus on them being a family of four for a while.

The sonographer handed them some photographs that she had taken of the baby and the three of them left the room, walking out of the waiting room and stood in the corridor just looking at the scan photographs. She had never seen Will look so excited before, even when she had told him that she was having their baby for the second time, he had been excited; but not this excited.

Just as they were about to leave the hospital, they saw Jane and Charles walking towards them.

"What are you doing here?" Charles asked cheerfully.

"Um…."

But neither Elizabeth or Will got the chance to answer Charles's question.

"I'm gettin' a little brother." Rose announced, quite chuffed.

Both Charles and Jane were surprised by this news for a few seconds until hugs were shared, squeals were coming from Jane and then came the cooing over the scan photographs.

"I can't believe you're already halfway through!" Charles said happily.

"I'm due on 5th November."

"'Member, 'member, the fifth of November…." Rose sang to herself.

"Quite an easy date to remember considering it's bonfire night." Charles mused.

"We're about to head over to Longbourn to tell the Bennet family." Will replied.

"Can you not mention you saw us here?" Jane asked quietly.

Elizabeth frowned.

"Of course…but why?" she asked.

"Because ever since I've gone over my due date, mum has been pestering for news. She showed up at Netherfield uninvited yesterday morning and didn't leave until we made excuses of an early night. She's been adamant that she's going to be involved until the baby decides to make an appearance." Jane complained.

"It's funny how she never had much involvement during my pregnancy with Rose and yet she's all over you." Elizabeth laughed.

"She's smothering! It's not funny."

"So, why are you here?"

"I'm now twelve days over and I have to be induced." Jane said quietly.

"Do you want me to stay?" Elizabeth offered.

"It's fine, we'll keep you updated on what's happening." Jane promised.

"But if you could keep our news to yourself that would be great. The last thing we need is Fran camped out in the maternity corridors." Charles added.

"We won't say anything, promise." Rose pipped up.

Charles ruffled Rose's hair and smiled down at his little niece.

"We decided to just let the family know when she's born, that way we get to experience the birth the way we want to." Jane explained.

"Don't justify your actions to anyone. If you and Charles just want it to be you two here without mum or anyone else, that's your decision." Elizabeth replied.

Jane smiled, "Thanks Lizzy."

Saying their goodbyes, Charles and Jane pressed the button to be admitted into the Maternity Admissions part of the maternity section of the hospital whilst Elizabeth, Will and Rose left the hospital and headed over to tell the Bennets the good news first.

ooOoo

When they had arrived at Longbourn, Elizabeth had expected her news to be met with some form of enthusiasm. But the only people who were happy that she was expecting another child were her father and the sister who usually liked to be aloof; Mary. Both her father and Mary were happy for the new chapter in their lives but the other three Bennets didn't really have much to say on the subject. Lydia muttered a mere 'congratulations' because she was still holding a grudge over Wickham taking off without saying a goodbye in December and Kitty was too busy texting Denny to say more than two words about the pregnancy. Her mother on the other hand, had plenty to say about the subject.

"Honestly, Elizabeth, what were you thinking? Getting knocked up for the second time without being married? Do you want people to gossip about you? Unmarried, pregnant with a man's child who wasn't there to raise his daughter with you-"

"Mother!" Elizabeth warned.

"People do talk Lizzy-"

"You mean that you talk. You gossip. All because you have nothing in your pathetic life that makes you happy." Elizabeth hissed.

Mrs. Bennet looked quite shocked at her daughter's reply that she couldn't get out a response. Mr. Bennet told his wife that she'd better stay quiet but then Rose stood up from her seat and glared at her grandmother.

"I wish you wasn't my nanny." Rose admitted, quite coldly.

"I think we'd better leave." Elizabeth said to Will.

"We won't be coming here again," Will added, looking directly at his girlfriend's parents, "We came here to share the good news that you were going to have a grandson and we've not exactly had an easy time with this pregnancy either. Mr. Bennet, you are welcome to come and visit us at our house and you can continue to spend time with Rose and our son once he's born. But Mrs. Bennet, you won't be having anything to do with us from this point onwards."

Mrs. Bennet looked surprised at William's words.

"But….but…." Mrs. Bennet stammered.

Will shook his head.

"I don't want to hear your pathetic excuses and fake apologies. All you've done is show your disappointment that Elizabeth kept our child and instead of supporting her through that, you constantly put her down. You should be proud that she managed to finish her degree, get a good job in the career she's always wanted and raise a child, all on her own. I might not have known about Rose and you know that isn't my fault or Lizzy's but you still have to have an opinion on the subject when it has nothing to do with you."

"Lizzy-"

"Goodbye mum." Elizabeth said firmly, taking hold of Rose's hand and leaving Longbourn

When they were all in the car and pulling out of the driveway, Rose ended the tense silence that had followed their exit from her childhood home.

"Mummy…when my little brother is here….is he gonna be a Bennet too?" Rose asked.

Elizabeth froze for a second, she and Will hadn't discussed what last name they would use or whether they would combine the two last names because they weren't married.

"I don't know darling." She answered honestly.

"Can't we all be Darcys like daddy? I don't wanna be a Bennet anymore." Rose sighed.

"Why not?"

"'Cause nanny doesn't like me and I don't like her."

In that moment, Elizabeth hated her mother. She wished that her mother would just keep her feelings about the circumstances about Rose's conception and birth to herself because it was now that her daughter knew just how much her grandmother disapproved of Elizabeth's decisions.

"Can you and daddy get married and then we can be Darcys?" Rose asked.

Elizabeth didn't know how Will was keeping his focus on the road because he was breathing heavily and his eyes told her that he seemed to be in deep thought over Rose's question. She didn't know how he was feeling but she decided that she was going to talk to him about it when Rose was in bed.

When they pulled up outside of their house, they got out of their car to see that Georgiana, Alice and Reginald were walking towards them from where Alice had parked her car on the main road.

"I did text to say we were here to talk about the hospital appointment." Georgiana said.

"Sorry, haven't checked my phone." Will muttered.

Reginald frowned.

"Is everything okay?" Reginald asked.

"We'll explain inside, there's a lot to talk about." Will replied.

Elizabeth unlocked the front door and headed inside, sending Rose upstairs to play as she went into the kitchen to put the kettle on; hoping that Will's family would take the news of her pregnancy a lot better than her own family had done.

ooOoo

Will led his family into the living room, gesturing for everyone to take a seat. He could hear the sound of the kettle boiling in the kitchen and guessed that Elizabeth was going to make everyone a cup of tea whilst they discussed the day's events.

"How was the meeting with Dr. Knight?" he asked.

"Your sister has been cleared to be my donor." Reginald replied.

"Oh…what did they say about you, Alice?" Will asked.

Alice gave a sad smile.

"They deemed me an unsuitable donor because I'm an employee. Basically, they want to prevent me from developing complications after having the operation which could cause me to seek a new reduced hours contract or consider early retirement which could cause resentment and tension if that were to happen. Me being an employee of your father's is a complication for them." Alice explained.

Will's face fell. Ever since they had found out that Alice was also a match for their father, he had pinned all of his hopes on Alice being deemed the more suitable choice over Georgiana because he wanted to prevent his sister from going through the surgery.

"The operation is happening on 9th October." Georgiana said quietly.

The operation was only a few weeks before Elizabeth's due date and it made him feel a little conflicted. With her last pregnancy, Elizabeth had given birth two weeks before her due date and there was also a chance that it could happen with this pregnancy; so with the chance that Elizabeth might go into labour before her due date and his sister and father undergoing a severe operation, he was already thinking that he would have to hire some help.

Elizabeth came into the living room carrying a tray of cups of tea for the five of them. She placed it down on the coffee table before Will pulled her into his lap and placed a kiss to her cheek.

"Georgie's going to donate." Will said quietly.

"They were okay with everything then?" Elizabeth asked Georgiana.

Georgiana picked up her cup of tea and nodded, taking a quick sip before answering.

"Yeah, the surgeon, the assessor and the psychiatrist were happy with our meetings and deemed me as suitable, the operation is on the 9th October."

"Are you nervous?" Elizabeth asked.

"Not really." Georgiana shrugged.

"It's okay if you are." Reginald said quietly.

"The only thing I'm nervous about is if you try and get out of this again." Georgiana admitted, turning to face Reginald.

Reginald was quiet for a minute, taking a mouthful of his tea.

"I won't, I already said that I wouldn't."

"Good. Because I'll be angry if you do." Georgiana stated.

After a few more minutes of discussing the operation and their teas half finished, Rose came downstairs with a picture for Reginald.

"Is this for me?" Reginald asked, putting his arm around Rose as she sat next to him on the sofa.

Rose nodded and pressed her finger to the paper to show Reginald what she had drawn.

"That's me, mummy and daddy lookin' at a photograph of my little brother." Rose announced.

Reginald frowned and both Will and Elizabeth felt the confusion as Reginald, Alice and Georgiana looked at them.

"Little brother?" Reginald asked, eyebrows raised.

"Yes. I'm having our baby." Elizabeth replied, somewhat icily.

Will knew that despite trying hard, Elizabeth still found it hard to have a conversation with Reginald and guessed that she must be feeling somewhat resentful at his father asking if she was expecting their child for the second time.

"A boy?"

Elizabeth nodded.

"Yes. I'm due on the 5th November."

Reginald beamed, squeezing Rose lightly before meeting Elizabeth's stare.

"Congratulations, I'm happy for you both."

Elizabeth's eyes widened slightly as Will smiled happily. Georgiana squealed with excitement that she was going to be an aunty again for the second time whilst Alice asked to see the scan photograph. They talked more about the baby, discussing the reason why they hadn't told anybody until now and other things such as baby names and if Elizabeth wanted a baby shower.

As Reginald made more of an effort to talk to Elizabeth about the new baby, Will could see that his father was happy for them and he wasn't going to get in the way of them having a life together and he felt grateful that his father really was making the effort.

ooOoo

That night, after Will's family had left and she, Will and Rose had eaten dinner, Elizabeth sat curled up on the sofa with a new book that she had picked up from the bookstore a week ago. She hadn't had much of a chance to read it since she had bought it, being busy with school and feeling tired and having a lot of early nights after finishing her lesson plans hadn't allowed her much chance of leisure time. Will entered the living room, sitting next to her and peering over her shoulder.

"What are you reading?" he asked, curiously.

"A book called Me before You." Elizabeth replied, looking up from her current page and kissing him lightly.

"So….today…." Will began.

Sighing, Elizabeth folded the top corner of the page into a small triangle and closed the book; placing it down on the coffee table before looking at her boyfriend. She had guessed that he would want to talk and she had wanted to talk about what Rose had said to them both in the car but due to Reginald, Alice and Georgiana's visit, it had gone out of her mind; until now.

"It's been quite eventful." Elizabeth said.

"It has," Will agreed, "I can't believe your mother's reaction."

"She's always believed I should have had an abortion, she never really accepted my decision to keep Rose. Fran Bennet has always been old fashioned, she wanted her daughters to settle down and get married before the children part."

"Well if she wants to be a part of our children's lives, she needs to respect our choices and decisions. I will be involved with every step of this pregnancy and when the baby is born. I want to do the night feeds and dirty nappies." Will promised softly.

"I know that. So far, you've been so fantastic."

"Just doing what I can."

"I love you."

"I love you too…now there's something that we need to discuss about our little family." Will said.

"What's that?" Elizabeth asked.

"What Rose said in the car. She had a point. Both you and her are Bennets and I want us all to have the same last name. I know that we share legal parental rights over Rose ever since we added my name to her birth certificate, but it's like you explained; Rose won't be known as a Darcy unless we re-register her birth as a Darcy when we get married." Will explained.

Elizabeth smirked.

"I think I know what you're about to say." She said.

"Marry me, Lizzy." Will whispered softly against her lips.

Before she could have the chance to reply, Will kissed her slowly, tenderly. Her eyes closed, her hands cupping his face just as his did with hers. The kiss didn't deepen but she didn't mind, because the way his lips moved over hers told her just how much he loved her without speaking those words that he liked to tell her. Will pulled away slowly, looking deeply into her eyes with warmth and love as his hands moved from cupping her face to cradle the small baby bump.

Elizabeth looked down at her stomach, smiling as she felt their son kick inside her.

"Lizzy, let's make it official." Will said softly.

Looking up at him, she could see that them getting married and all of them being 'The Darcys' was something that he wanted more than anything. It was something that she had thought about since they had gotten back together, whether they would one day be married but until now it hadn't been something they had decided to act upon; sure, they had spoken about their future together but with buying the new house, the pregnancy and everything that was happening with Reginald, it had been put to the back of their minds.

"Yes, Will. Let's get married." Elizabeth whispered, smiling widely.

Kissing her once more, Will lifted her from the sofa and she wrapped her legs around his waist; closing her eyes as he moved them from the living room and up the stairs.

ooOoo

The next morning, Will groaned as he heard the sound of his phone ringing on the bedside table next to his side of the bed. Rubbing his eyes so that his vision came into focus, he saw Elizabeth was still asleep and the alarm clock next to his phone said six-thirty in the morning. Picking up his phone, he pressed the answer button.

"Morning Charles." Will yawned.

"Morning Darce, sorry for the early wake-up call but I have some news." Charles apologised.

Will shifted in the bed until his back was rested against the headboard.

"Is everything okay?" Will asked.

"Yes although it was quite scary for a while. Jane didn't get past seven centimetres so she was prepped for a c-section. Both mother and daughter are well though Jane's exhausted, she was amazing throughout the whole operation."

"Did you go in with her?"

"Yeah, had to change into some scrubs first though but I held her hand the whole time. But as of two o'clock this morning, you and Elizabeth have a niece."

"Congratulations mate, I'm pleased for you." Will smiled.

"Thanks Darce. Amelie Bingley we called her, she weighed eight pounds twelve ounces." Charles replied, happiness evident in his tone of voice.

Out of the corner of his eye, Elizabeth had woken up and was now sitting up in the bed; bouncing lightly on the spot as she awaited the news.

"Is there anything you need us to do?" Will asked.

"Not right now. I'm going to pop home to shower and get a few hours of sleep. The midwives are taking care of Jane and the baby and then I'll go back at lunch time. If you could check in on Dash this afternoon though, I'd be grateful." Charles replied.

"No problem, can Lizzy come in after work for a visit?"

"I'll text her later with the visiting times, I know Jane would like to see her."

"Alright, thanks Charles."

"See you later."

The phone call came to an end and Will placed his phone back on the bedside table before turning to his excitable girlfriend.

"Amelie Bingley was born at two o'clock this morning via c-section and weighed eight pounds and twelve ounces." Will smiled.

Elizabeth squealed.

"By c-section? Is Jane okay?" she asked.

Will nodded.

"She's fine, according to Charles she didn't get past seven centimetres so I guess they decided it was best for both Jane and Amelie to have the c-section."

"I'll go and see her after work if she's up for visitors."

"Charles said he'd text you later. Right now he's going home to get some sleep and a shower." Will said.

"I wonder if my family know yet."

"He didn't say but if they don't yet, I'm sure they will in a few hours. The last thing that Jane needs right now is your mother smothering her and the baby after she's just major abdominal surgery to ensure that her baby is okay."

"You're right, especially when my mother is probably still pissed at me for yesterday." Elizabeth grumbled.

Will's fingers ran through a loose strand of hair and twirled it around his index finger.

"Don't feel guilty for yesterday. Your mother was the one in the wrong, has always been in the wrong, not you." He stated.

"I know."

"So don't let her get to you. Just think that we're having a baby boy and soon we'll be getting married."

"How soon?" Elizabeth asked with a smile.

"As soon as possible. Tomorrow if I could." William replied.

"I think the registrar needs two weeks' notice before the wedding takes place."

"How about in three weeks?" Will suggested.

Elizabeth laughed.

"I can't get more time off work during term time. The only time they will allow for is pregnancy appointments. How about the first week of the summer holidays? The end of July?"

"That's still a month away." Will whined.

"It'll be worth the wait." Elizabeth said in a sing-song voice.

Will laughed, placing a brief kiss to her lips before pulling away.

"You're always worth it, believe me. Okay, the end of July it is but I want to take you away for a few days, can we get someone to look after Rose?"

"Jane and Charles will be too busy with their own baby so we can't ask them. I still don't feel comfortable in asking your dad for anything." Elizabeth stated.

"I wasn't thinking about my father. Maybe we could ask your dad, or Georgie?"

Elizabeth bit her lip. She didn't really want to ask her father to babysit Rose for a few days just as she and Will had decided to cut contact off with her mother.

"As much as I know my dad would love to have Rose for a few days, I think it would be a good opportunity for Rose and Georgie to bond a bit more." Elizabeth replied.

"You don't have to worry about Georgie being irresponsible, she's a good kid. I thought about Georgie because she's done with school and I think she'll manage to look after Rose for two days."

"Two days seems okay with me, maybe Alice could check in on them occasionally?"

"I'm sure Alice wouldn't mind and worst case scenario, Jane and Charles are only a phone call away if something went wrong."

"So…are we going to tell everyone we're getting married?" Elizabeth asked.

"I'll be taking Rose to see my dad for lunch, I'll see him then because there's something that I need to get from him."

Elizabeth frowned in confusion.

"What do you have to get from your dad?" she questioned.

"For as long as I can remember, my dad said that my mother wanted me to give her engagement ring to the woman I would marry one day. My dad has it locked away in the Pemberley safe and I want him to fulfil my mother's wish."

"You don't have to give me your mother's ring-"

"I want to. She'd want you to have it because she would have loved you, if she had been around she would have prevented my father from scheming and separating us. It's quite a beautiful ring, white gold, diamonds and emeralds set into the band quite elegantly; it would suit you."

"Are you sure it's what you want? Passing on a family heirloom-"

"I want to." Will assured her.

Before either of them could answer the alarm clock started ringing, indicating that it was time to get up and start the day. Letting out two final yawns, both Will and Elizabeth left their bedroom and headed downstairs to tell their daughter the good pieces of good news, that she had a baby girl cousin and she was going to be a Darcy.


	33. Chapter 33

**A/N:** 500 reviews, thank you! I never expected to get this many for this story so a huge thank you to all of you that have reviewed this story so far. Another little time jump here to the end of July which will see the wedding of Will and Elizabeth.

This story will most likely be finished within two chapters plus an epilogue and I have to say now that I'm dreading the end of writing this, I've thoroughly enjoyed writing this story over the past eleven months and would love for it not to end but all things must eventually. However, just as this story ends, my next work-in-progress will begin. There will be a one shot that I've already written that follows this story twenty years in the future and a new multi-chapter story that I've been writing alongside Autumn Changes.

Oh and if any of you want to know where I got the idea for Lizzy's wedding dress, it can be found here: maternity/clothing/CHLDIS/Chloe-Lace-Maternity-Wedding-Dress-(Ivory).html?partner=google_shopping_UK&size=2&partner=google_uk&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=UK_Shopping_Wedding+Dresses&utm_term=.E&esvt=524-GOUKE310928&esvq=&esvadt=999999-0-23540-1&esvcrea=60381144616&esvplace=&esvd=c&esvo=CHLDIS-2&esvaid=50055

Enjoy.

* * *

On the thirtieth of July, with exactly twenty-four hours to go until she became Mrs. Darcy, Elizabeth was in her bedroom packing her suitcase for her overnight stay at Netherfield with Rose and the clothes she would need for her little getaway with Will for the next two days.

"Why are you so insistent on staying at Netherfield tonight? I don't care about tradition and I certainly don't believe in this whole 'bad luck' thing if I see your dress before the ceremony." Will said, standing against the doorframe lazily as he watched her pack.

Elizabeth folded her maternity shorts into the suitcase and rolled her eyes. Will had wanted them to wake-up together and go to the registry office together with Rose.

"I'm sure you'll cope for one night." Elizabeth laughed, looking at the puppy dog eyes that he was trying to use to persuade her to stay at home.

"But we're having a barbecue in an hour, do you really have to pack now?" Will asked.

"Yes, because Jane is taking me and Rose back to Netherfield with her after our barbecue. What time are everyone else getting here?"

"Your father, Mary and Kitty will be here just after two, along with my father, Alice and Georgiana and Richard is on his way."

"So they should all be here quite soon." Elizabeth mused.

Will nodded.

"How are you feeling, about your mum and Lydia?" he asked.

Elizabeth stopped folding her clothes and sighed heavily. Ever since they had announced the news that they were having a son, she and her mother hadn't spoken and when they told her family that they were getting married, her mother and Lydia had told them outright that they wouldn't be attending. Lydia, still pining over Wickham which had been the longest she had ever pouted over something, said that she didn't want to be at the wedding of a sister she had always felt was against her and her mother said that she had no business being somewhere she wasn't appreciated. So Elizabeth had let the matter rest, she wasn't going to force her youngest sister and her mother into attending her wedding; it was their choice and it was their loss at the end of the day.

"I'm not bothered. It's been a month and my mother has refused to apologise for her treatment of me and Rose and Lydia is just being an attention seeker so leave them to it. The people who matter to me will be there and that's all I care about."

"And you don't mind that we're having a smaller wedding with a buffet reception at Netherfield?" Will asked.

Elizabeth chuckled and moved from the bed to stand in front of him. Initially, he had wanted to give her a huge wedding, with the church where Jane and Charles had gotten married and a lavish wedding reception with a sit down, elegant meal to celebrate them becoming a proper family as 'The Darcys' but she didn't want that for two reasons; she didn't want to spend a lot of money of their wedding when they wanted to get married in exactly one month and the second reason was that if her mother had decided to attend, she didn't want Francine Bennet bragging that her daughter had 'bagged herself a rich one'.

"We agreed, something small."

"I know. I'm surprised that Jane and Charles offered up Netherfield for the reception as they've only just had their baby."

"They wanted us to have it there. Besides, the other places we'd seen photographs of put us off."

"The church hall was too cramped."

Elizabeth nodded in agreement, leaning forward to briefly kiss him before returning to her packing. The past month had gone by as if in the blink of an eye for both of them. She was now showing a very proud baby bump and was now officially wearing maternity clothes, feeling the baby kick at different points in the day but he was most active during the night whenever she got comfortable sleeping on her left side, he would just boot away for hours.

Aside from the bad fallout with her mother and sister which she wasn't thinking about too much, Elizabeth was happier that Rose was coming around to the idea of having a little brother. For the first week following the scan, Rose had asked if they could swap the baby at the hospital for a baby girl because she really wanted a little sister but both Will and Elizabeth said that there was absolutely no way that they could change the sex of the baby.

Then there was Reginald. Despite the fact that Will's dad's health was slowly declining, he really was trying to make an effort and Rose would go to see Reginald three times a week with Will. When it was just the three of them at home alone, Rose would often chat about the things she did with Reginald and Elizabeth could tell that her little girl was becoming quite fond of 'Reg Veg'.

Finishing her packing, she zipped the suitcase to a close and took it out of the bedroom, only to have Will tut at her for carrying the suitcase and take it from her; taking it downstairs to place it by the front door.

"Rosie, have you packed your overnight bag?" Elizabeth called.

The sound of little footsteps came down from the top of the stairs and seconds later they saw their daughter's little suitcase slide to the bottom of the stairs. Elizabeth looked up to the top of the stairs to see Rose grinning widely as she shuffled on her bottom down the stairs.

"You have legs." Elizabeth pointed out with an amused smirk.

"More fun like this." Rose replied, reaching the bottom of the stairs.

"Why don't you go into the garden?" Will suggested.

"Can I play with my water guns?" Rose asked.

"Sure, Georgie wanted to play with them as well."

Rose grinned and ran out in the direction of the back garden to get her water guns from her playhouse while Will and Lizzy moved the suitcases out of the way of where people would walk and then headed into the kitchen.

"Alice offered to cook on the barbecue." Will said, gathering up the plates where the clingfilm covered the uncooked meat that had been prepared for the barbecue.

"That was nice of her but she needs to relax, all she does is take care of your dad." Elizabeth replied.

"That's what I told her."

"Is Georgiana coming back with Alice and your dad?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yeah, she said she wanted to spend the morning with dad and then she'll be back. Are you sure you don't mind her going to Netherfield with you and Rose tonight?"

"Of course not, we're going to be sisters as of tomorrow and I know Jane gets on quite well with her. She's a lot more mature than Lydia and Lydia is only a year older than her."

Will kissed her on the cheek and went out to the back garden to place the meat on the little table set up next to the barbecue. Elizabeth switched on the oven and waited for it to heat up, everything else was prepared on clingfilm covered plates and sat on the garden table.

The doorbell rang as Elizabeth was putting the potato wedges in the oven to cook and she heard Will open the front door and voices talking in the hallway. Seconds later, her father stepped into the kitchen and kissed her cheek before he, Mary and Kitty headed out into the garden to see Rose. Will joined them a minute later just as Jane appeared in the kitchen, cradling her one-month-old little girl.

"Can I have a cuddle with my niece?" Elizabeth asked with a smile.

"As if you need to ask." Jane chuckled, carefully handing the baby over.

Elizabeth held Amelie in her arms and smiled down at the sleeping baby, thinking it was crazy just how much a baby could change in just a month of being born. Amelie had gone from being quite dark haired to now having a reddish tint to the little bit of hair that she had. The red hair was the only Bingley trait that she had inherited from her father, the rest of her resembled Jane.

"She's getting bigger." Elizabeth cooed.

Jane gave a small smile.

"I'm glad we didn't call her Scarlett like Charles wanted."

"Where is Charles?" Elizabeth asked, looking up at her sister.

Jane's smile faded and for a moment, her sister chewed on her bottom lip before exhaling heavily; letting it be known that there was something wrong.

"Lizzy….we had a visitor this morning. Caroline turned up out of the blue with a gift for Amelie, having heard the news after Louisa and Jonathan visited with their little boy Jasper at the weekend." Jane explained.

"She has some nerve trying to make amends. How dare she?" Lizzy replied angrily.

"I got a lift with dad and we drove on ahead to get here with Amelie but Charles is still at Netherfield, trying to deal with his psycho sister."

"He isn't going to forgive and forget with Caroline is he?"

"No Lizzy, you don't need to worry on that. Charles won't have Caroline in our lives after what she tried to do at our wedding."

Elizabeth nodded but said nothing else about the subject as she looked back down at her sleeping niece who had let out a little yawn in her arms. The last thing that she wanted to deal with today was Caroline trying to slither back into their lives after everything that had happened in December. She and Will were getting married in less than twenty-four hours and were at the happiest point of their lives with their growing family.

Will popped his head around the kitchen door and the two women laughed to see that he was wet from head to toe thanks to Rose attacking him with the water guns. He announced that he would go upstairs to change. They heard his footsteps going up the stairs just as the doorbell rang again. Passing Amelie back to Jane, Elizabeth walked down the hallway to the front door and saw Charles waiting in the doorway.

"Charles! Please! You have to let me explain-"

But before Elizabeth could do anything, Charles had turned to face his sister and glared at her, his fists clenched.

"Go away, Caroline. I'm done with you. If you don't leave this instant, I'll call the police and give a statement about everything you plotted to do last year, I'm sure plotting to kidnap a child on its own is a good few years in a women's prison." Charles threatened.

"But…I'm…your sister…" Caroline stammered, her eyes meeting Elizabeth's.

But Elizabeth didn't say anything to the woman who she hated with a passion. Instead, Caroline's eyes moved to Elizabeth's growing baby bump and she looked furious.

"You…Darcy…"

"That's right," Elizabeth confirmed, "I'm having William's baby. Again. Oh and we're getting married as well so if I were you, I'd leave before I throw you off my property."

"I'd do as she says, Caroline. Nobody here wants to know you and I'm pretty sure that if Lizzy wasn't pregnant, she'd slap the crap out of you." Charles added.

As if she were unsure what to say, Caroline Bingley threw the baby pink gift bag to the ground and stormed off up the road and got into her parked car and drove off in a fit of rage. Elizabeth turned to her brother-in-law and gave him a brief hug before heading inside the house.

"I hope she gets the message this time." Charles sighed.

"I hope so as well. She knows that nothing she can do can hurt me and Will or our children."

"Enough of my poisonous sister, let's celebrate." Charles smiled.

Following her brother-in-law inside the house, Elizabeth closed the front door behind them and spent the entire afternoon forgetting about what had happened in the past and instead chose to focus on the days ahead where nothing but her future mattered.

ooOoo

The next morning Will woke up with the biggest smile on his face that he hadn't had in a long time. Of course, in recent months he'd had a lot to smile about. Rose was confirmed to start at Meryton Primary after the summer holidays, he now owned a house with the love of his life, Elizabeth was having their first boy and now he was marrying her in less than four hours. Today, they became the Darcys and everything would just get better.

As he stretched his arms out, he heard an impatient knock on the door.

"Hurry up and get out of bed you lazy git!" Charles called.

Will rolled his eyes and kicked back the covers, putting his feet on the floor and standing from the bed. He crossed the room to his drawers and got out a pair of tracksuit bottoms and pulled them on before heading downstairs. He hadn't known what time his father and Alice had arrived but Alice was standing over the oven cooking a fried breakfast for everyone whilst his father, Richard and Charles were sat at the dining table.

"Morning Darce, how'd you sleep?" Richard yawned.

"I slept well, was the sofa comfortable?"

"Very, I've tried persuading dear uncle here to upgrade the sofas at the house in Chelsea."

Will smiled, taking a seat next to his father.

"And what did you say in reply dad?" he asked.

"I told your cousin that I would see about 'upgrading' my furniture once I've recovered from my operation." Reginald replied, not looking up from reading the morning paper.

"And your father won't talk any more on the subject of the operation." Richard said quietly.

"Because today is a day to celebrate a family joining, not to talk about me receiving part of my daughter's liver and the complications involved in the operation."

"Rich, if dad doesn't want to talk about it, just leave it for now. Like Elizabeth said, we just want today to be about me, her and Rose." Will said.

The barbecue the day before had been quite awkward to say the least. While Elizabeth's sisters had chatted and gotten on well with Georgie, the atmosphere between his father and Elizabeth's was quite frosty. Reginald had been taken into the kitchen for a private talk with Mr. Bennet and the discussion had not gone well.

Elizabeth had walked into the kitchen to fill up the empty jug of juice when she caught a snippet of the conversation between her father and her future father-in-law. The conversation between Reginald and Mr. Bennet had been over Reginald's actions five years previously and Elizabeth had had enough talk about the past. Asking Reginald to leave the room, his girlfriend had told her father that she didn't want to keep bringing up the past, especially as Rose was only outside in the garden and they had both agreed not to tell Rose what had happened between them and his father because they wanted their daughter to build her own opinion of Reginald. In the end, Mr. Bennet agreed to let the matter lie and try to be civil.

"Here you go Fitzwilliam, eat up. You have a big day ahead." Alice smiled, placing a plate down in front of him.

"Thanks, Mrs. R." Will said in reply.

Alice went back out into the kitchen and returned minutes later with plates for Richard and Charles whilst Reginald tucked into a bowl of muesli. Over the next hour as they ate, drank their tea and coffee, Will was asked whether he was nervous, if he and Elizabeth had argued over baby names for their son after Charles mentioned that Jane had banned the consideration of any names for their daughter that had the association with the colour red. But truth be told, he didn't feel nervous.

He couldn't help but think over his past relationship with Eleanor and how pressured he had felt by her and his father into proposing marriage and then going through with the marriage and he knew that if he had proposed to his ex and it was now a few hours until he was due to marry Eleanor, he would feel nervous. He'd feel nervous because he knew that he wasn't supposed to end up with her, that their marriage would have been a pressure to keep Eleanor happy. But with Elizabeth, his heart didn't beat fast with nerves, it beat fast because he knew that it was right. It beat fast because he was happy, because he was deeply in love.

At ten o'clock, the group headed upstairs to change into their suits while Alice locked herself in the bathroom to change into the plum coloured dress that she had bought for the wedding. When Will had finished getting dressed, he went back downstairs to see his father waiting for him.

"Are Charles and Richard finished yet?" Will asked.

"I asked them to give us a minute alone." Reginald replied.

"What's up?"

Reginald gestured for Will to take a seat next to him and he obliged, wondering what his father could possibly want to talk about.

"How do you feel at this very moment?" Reginald asked.

Will looked at his father and felt a little confused.

"I feel fine."

"I mean how do you feel, knowing we're waiting for the cars to come so that we can get to the registry office for eleven-thirty. How do you feel that at midday, you'll be marrying the woman you love?" Reginald asked.

Will thought for a few seconds before smiling to himself.

"I feel great. More than great. I can't really define it by words. But if I had to, I'd say that my life now has a purpose. That by marrying Elizabeth, the love of my life, I feel complete." Will answered.

Reginald smiled widely and patted his son on the arm.

"That's how I felt when I married your mother." Reginald admitted, a tone of fondness in his voice.

There was a brief moment of silence as both Will and his father thought about Anne Darcy. Reginald reflecting on how his deceased wife would have been disappointed in how he had acted towards Elizabeth at the beginning and hoped that if she hadn't died, she would see that he was trying to change for the better. Will thought about how much his mother would have liked Elizabeth, from what he remembered of his mother, she had quite an accepting nature.

"Dad, you don't need to worry. Elizabeth really does make me happy." Will said quietly.

Reginald snapped out of his thoughts.

"I know she does, you don't need to tell me she does because I've seen it for myself just how much you make each other happy and how much you love each other."

"Then…what's wrong?" Will asked.

"Nothing really. I'm just thinking about if your mother hadn't died, she'd be disappointed in me over how I treated Elizabeth and it got me wondering if she could see that I'm trying to be better." Reginald replied.

"I'm sure she would." Will said, encouragingly.

"I'm happy for you, Fitzwilliam, that you've found someone like Elizabeth who makes you feel the way you do. I wish you both a lifetime of happiness, even if Elizabeth hates me."

"Hate is a strong word dad. I know she dislikes you. A lot. But that's to be expected. But she knows that over the past few months you're making amends and she's civil with you and she likes the fact that you have a bond with Rose now that you've gotten to know our little girl. She's even said that she won't stop you from having a relationship with our son."

Reginald smiled.

"I'd love to get to know my grandson as much as I've gotten to know my granddaughter."

With nothing else to say about the past, Reginald rose from the sofa and went to turn the door handle to see if the others were ready but stopped as he heard Will say:

"Dad, just because mum is gone, doesn't mean that you can't be happy again."

Reginald turned around and frowned.

"You mean, find someone else to love as much as I loved your mother?" Reginald asked.

Will nodded.

"I'm not saying that you could love someone more than you loved mum but she wouldn't want you to be alone. Ever since she died, you changed and not for the better, we've already spoken about that. But now that you're trying to change for the better and make amends, there could be someone that you could care for, possibly love." Will replied.

"And who would you suggest as a companion for a man whose liver is on its last legs, who is struggling to not consume alcohol and has the tendency to be a grumpy git?" Reginald asked, slightly amused.

But before William could give his answer, the living room door opened and Alice stepped in.

"The cars are outside, ready to go when we all are." Alice announced brightly.

Standing from the sofa, Will stepped out of the room with a deep breath; ready to take the next step of his relationship with Elizabeth.

ooOoo

"Are you nervous?" Mr. Bennet whispered.

Elizabeth looked around at her father and shook her head. She felt anything but nervous. She was giddy with excitement, giddy with happiness that she thought she might forget just what she was doing here. They had arrived at the registry office at eleven o'clock and taken to a separate room where the bride and her bridesmaids would wait until the ceremony began.

They had woken up at seven o'clock that morning and had immediately started with the nail painting, the hair styling and the make-up. Rose was easy to get ready, her curls had been left in their natural state of falling past her shoulders and down her back; with two thick strands being whirled and pinned back and little red rose clips applied into the pinned strands of hair. She wore a little red dress with a diamante effect across the bow along the waist and matching shoes with the same diamante effect. Jane, Georgiana, Kitty and Mary wore the same dress as Rose but in adult sizes and their hairs styled into fishtail plaits falling over their left shoulders.

As for Elizabeth, she hadn't wanted something over the top for her wedding dress with a puffy skirt or anything too tight around the bust and upper body because of her baby bump. She had chosen a classic, knee-length shift dress in an ivory colour, covered with corded lace and sleeves that fell just past the elbow. Her brown locks had been styled into soft and smooth waves and pinned so that her hair fell over her right shoulder.

"I feel anything but nervous." Elizabeth smiled, tears of happiness forming in her eyes.

"Don't cry, you'll ruin your dress with running mascara!" Kitty warned.

The girls laughed and then there was a knock on the door where a member of the registry office staff announced that it was time to begin the ceremony. With squeals of excitement, the bridesmaids lined up in front of the door whilst Elizabeth looped her arm through her dad's and heard the soft music of the wedding march begin to play in the next room.

The door opened and Rose walked through it first, walking gracefully down the petal scattered aisle followed by Mary and Kitty and then Jane and Georgiana. Elizabeth walked at the same pace that her father had set, smiling as she passed Charlotte, Matthew, her aunt and uncle who had managed to get a last minute cover on the bar to be here, and then Richard, Reginald and Alice. Charles was sat at the front with Will, who both stood as the bridesmaids sat in the empty front row of chairs. Charles handed Amelie over to Jane and stood next to Will as Mr. Bennet kissed her cheek before taking to his seat.

The registrar smiled at the bride and groom who held hands as they stood before him.

"Good Afternoon ladies and gentleman and welcome to the Watford Registry Office for the marriage of Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet. This place in which we are now met has been duly sanctioned according to law for the celebration of marriage. This ceremony will unite Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet in marriage. We are here to celebrate their union and to honour their commitment to each other. Today both couples will proclaim their love for one another. We celebrate with them and for them," the registrar greeted, "If any person present knows of any lawful impediment to this marriage they should declare it now."

The room was silent for a minute before the registrar continued.

"Marriage joins two people in the circle of its love. It is a commitment to life, the best that two people can find and bring out in each other. It offers opportunities for learning and growth that no other opportunity can equal. It is both a physical and emotional joining that is promised for a lifetime. Happiness is fuller, memories are fresher and commitment is deeper. Marriage understands and forgives the mistakes that life is unable to avoid. When two people pledge their love and care for each other within a marriage they create a spirit which binds them closer than any spoken or written words. Marriage is a promise written in the hearts of two people who love each other and it takes a lifetime to fulfil. The purpose of marriage is that you always love, care for and support each other through both the joys and sorrows of life. Today you will exchange vows of marriage which will unite you as husband and wife. These vows are a promise of a lifelong commitment giving your families and friends the opportunity to meet together in celebration of your happiness, imparting their own message of love and support." The registrar continued.

Elizabeth looked into Will's eyes for a brief moment, knowing that what the registrar said was true about their relationship. She knew that she would always love Will because she had loved him from the beginning, even if their first meeting had been her spilling a drink over him.

The registrar cleared his throat.

"Before you are both joined together in marriage it is my duty to remind you of the solemn and binding character of the vows you are about to make. Marriage in this country is the union of two people voluntarily entered into for life to the exclusion of all others. I am now going to ask you each in turn to declare that you know of no legal reason why you may not be joined together in marriage."

It was Will's turn to speak first as he copied the registrar's words.

"I do solemnly declare, that I know not, of any lawful impediment, why I Fitzwilliam Darcy may not be joined in marriage to Elizabeth Bennet." Will said happily.

Then it was her turn to speak.

"I do solemnly declare, that I know not, of any lawful impediment, why I Elizabeth Bennet may not be joined in marriage to Fitzwilliam Darcy." Elizabeth said, smiling at Will while squeezing his hand gently.

The registrar smiled.

"Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth, you have invited your guests here today to receive their encouragement and support to celebrate with you at this special time. I ask you now; Fitzwilliam Darcy, do you take Elizabeth Bennet to be your lawful wedded wife? To be loving, faithful and loyal to her for the rest of your life together?"

Will looked at her, with the same look of love and warmth he always had.

"I do."

"I ask you now; Elizabeth Bennet, do you take Fitzwilliam Darcy to be your lawful wedded husband? To be loving, faithful and loyal to him for the rest of your life together?" the registrar asked.

Her heart was beating so loud that she was sure that William knew just how much she loved him in that moment. She was sure that if she found herself any happier or any more loved in that moment that her heart would burst like confetti out of her chest.

"I do." She replied, her voice full of the love she felt for him. She spoke it so softly that, just by the way Will looked at her, he knew exactly how much she loved him.

The registrar asked them to face each other as they moved on to the more formal vows.

" I call upon these persons here present, to witness that I, Fitzwilliam Darcy, take you, Elizabeth Bennet, to be my lawful wedded wife. To love and to cherish, from this day forward." Will declared with the biggest smile that she had ever seen.

Then it was her turn.

"I call upon these persons here present, to witness that I, Elizabeth Bennet, take you, Fitzwilliam Darcy, to be my lawful wedded husband. To love and to cherish, from this day forward." Elizabeth declared happily.

The registrar looked out to the guests and then back to the bride and groom.

"The exchanging of rings is the traditional way of sealing the contract that you have just made. It is an unbroken circle, symbolising unending and everlasting love and is the outward sign of the lifelong promise that you have just made to each other." The registrar said.

Rose stepped up from her seat as Charles passed her a small red, velvet cushion that held Elizabeth and Will's wedding rings and then handed the pillow to the registrar. Will took the ring that he would put on Elizabeth's finger as she took the one she would place on Will's.

In unison, they said: "I give you this ring, as a symbol of our love, all that I am I give to you, all that I have I share with you. I promise to love you, to be faithful and loyal, in good times and bad, may this ring remind your always, of the words we have spoken today."

Smiling for the last time, the registrar cleared his throat again.

"Today is a new beginning. May you have many happy years together and in those years may all your hopes and dreams be fulfilled. Above all, may you always believe in each other and may the warmth of your love enrich not only your lives but the lives of all those around you. It now gives me great pleasure to tell you both that you are now husband and wife. Congratulations."

With cheers from their guests, Will pulled Elizabeth into his arms and kissed her deeply. Wrapping her arms around his neck, Elizabeth was lost into the kiss. It all seemed like a wonderful dream that she didn't wish to wake from, there had been no crazy ex-girlfriends there with jealous 'friends' to try and kidnap their child in a bid to split them up and there was no father showing up drunk and collapsing in front of them because of cirrhosis.

"Get a room!" Richard yelled with a laugh.

Will pulled away from her reluctantly and briefly glared at his cousin before turning his attention back to his new wife.

"I love you, Mrs Darcy." He whispered against her lips.

"I love you, husband." She whispered back with a giggle.


	34. Chapter 34

**A/N:** Again, thank you for the reviews. I'm glad that you liked the wedding ceremony. Now this chapter features the near conclusion of the cirrhosis storyline within this story and sadly, the next chapter is the last one. The last chapter will draw everything to an end before I write the epilogue. I aim to update the last chapter within the next few days.

Enjoy.

* * *

The past two months had gone by in a blur for Will. The first few days of August he and Elizabeth had spent in London on a little honeymoon. They stayed in one of the best hotels that had a great view of the city's skyline, he treated her to dinner at The Shard. During their three days in London, they had their own pod on the London Eye, they went on a tour at the Tower of London and got to see the church where all those who were beheaded during the times of Henry VIII were buried. They had dinner in Covent Garden and watched the street performers which was a strange but enjoyable experience and on their last day, they took the tube out to Windsor where they explored Windsor castle. Their three days and two nights in London was a nice escape away from all the drama back home, and as much as Will wanted to extend their stay by an extra night, Elizabeth told him they couldn't; they had to go home to their daughter.

Rose had behaved herself while under Georgiana's care and had been majorly spoiled by his sister during their absence. Georgiana had treated Rose to a McDonald's, a trip to a local farm, a day at Netherfield where Charles held a barbecue and on the last day, a trip to the splash park while the evenings they had dinner at his dad's flat and were treated to Alice's delicious cooking. When Elizabeth and Will had arrived home, their daughter was really happy to see them and the day after, they went down to the registry office where they had only married a few days previously and re-registered Rose's birth. Their daughter was now officially known as Rose Olivia Darcy and the three of them returned home to have another little celebration of their own.

As August ended, September came. Elizabeth officially returned to work on the second and Rose started full-time on the fifteenth after a week of only going until lunchtime. Seeing his daughter in school uniform made him feel emotional, that the little girl he had only known about for the last year was now starting school and he felt that it shouldn't have happened that soon. But Elizabeth assured him that Rose would be fine, it was just a part of her growing up and soon they would have another little one to keep them busy.

Elizabeth was now quite big, their son was growing the way that the midwives liked, he continued to kick Elizabeth at all times of the day and night and Will loved seeing the way that when he wasn't being so active, Elizabeth would rest on the sofa with a book and one arm absentmindedly cradling her stomach. She would complain that she resembled a baby elephant, that she couldn't see her feet and waddled like a penguin but he disagreed with her as he gave her foot rubs, she looked just as beautiful as she did before the pregnancy and even more so as she had a growing life inside of her belly, it made her all the more desirable; even if their sex life had slowed down a bit as she got bigger. He reminded her that soon she'd be on maternity leave, after she had agreed with the head teacher to go back until the October half term with less than a week until her due date. Will would have preferred her going on maternity leave sooner but Elizabeth insisted on staying on until the half term, her work load had been reduced from five days to three and a half so that she could attend her weekly midwife appointments and to take it easy during her last weeks.

But while he had wondered what he was going to do with himself during the days now that Rose was at school until three in the afternoon, he didn't have to worry about that. Once a week he checked up on the businesses that he had invested money into in Meryton and the rest of the week was spent doing something with Georgiana and helping his sister and father prepare for the operation. He'd also take Alice out to lunch once a week just to give her a break from constantly caring for Reginald. It was during his time alone with Alice that he saw that perhaps there was a little more to the way she felt about his father. Whenever the topic of the operation and how she had cared for him when he hit the bottle hard again the previous year, Alice would say that she wanted to be there for him because she deeply cared for Reginald Darcy and Will sensed that perhaps Alice would be open to being that companion that his father needed.

Reginald had been the same since the summer, his skin more yellow than the normal colour it had been a year ago. Nosebleeds and bruising were more frequent, he needed help dressing and going to the toilet and if he wanted to go out and about, he had to sit in a wheelchair because he found it difficult to walk without being in excruciating pain. Will had hired a nursing team to come in during the mornings and pop in during the evenings to ease the pressure off Alice a little bit and these nurses would also help to care for Georgiana after the operation for the first three months following the procedure.

September soon turned into October and the night before the operation had arrived. Georgiana went to bed early that night, not having anything to eat or drink so that she was prepared for the operation, and had assured Will for the hundredth time that she wasn't nervous about the operation. It had already been discussed during their last meeting with Dr. Knight at the consultation meeting the week before, the procedure would happen separately. Georgiana had been booked in for her part of the operation at seven in the morning and would last roughly for six hours. She would be monitored closely by the team of surgeons and even more closely as she would be taken into recovery.

"Will, are you okay?" Elizabeth asked softly.

Coming out of his thoughts, he blinked and looked down at his plate of untouched food and pushed it away. He had never had anything against Elizabeth's cooking but tonight, he had no appetite because he was too worried about the operation.

"I'm sorry, I was miles away." Will apologised.

"I know they live liver donation operations aren't as common as kidney ones, and I know the risks are high and dangerous, but I'm sure that both Georgie and your dad will come out of this just fine." Elizabeth assured him.

"I'm sure they will be, but it's the thought that tomorrow afternoon my sister will be in the ICU unit on a ventilator and have tube stuck up her nose to feed and hydrate her. And then I can only hope that she doesn't get pneumonia, or a blood clot, or hope that she doesn't die." Will said loudly.

Elizabeth reached across the dining table and squeezed his hand.

"Do you want me to take the day off work tomorrow?" she asked.

Will shook his head.

"You need to be at work, you only have a few weeks left until maternity leave." He replied.

"You need me more." Elizabeth pointed out.

"I know but I'll fine, I'll have Alice at the hospital with me."

"If you change your mind, I'll be there. What's happening after Georgie's operation is over?" Elizabeth asked.

"The surgeons will clean up and then come and get dad, his operation should finish by late evening assuming that his operation has no complications."

"My dad offered to have Rose tomorrow night at Longbourn if you want me to come with you to the hospital tomorrow evening?" Elizabeth offered.

"Stay at home with Rose, watch a film and put your feet up; you need the rest. I appreciate the support Lizzy, but you need to rest. You don't need to be stuck at the hospital with me, besides, it's in London so I'll stay with Richard."

"Okay. But if you change your mind-"

"I'll text you." Will smiled, squeezing her hand.

Elizabeth smiled and took her plate out to the kitchen as Will stared back at his dinner and sighed. He had been dreading the thought of his sister being their father's donor and a part of him wished that the day of the operation would never come. But now it was merely a sleep away.

"What time do you have to leave?" Elizabeth asked, joining him back in the dining room.

"Georgie has to be in the operating theatre at seven o'clock. The surgeon told me to get her there for six to book her into the ward." Will replied.

"Okay. I know that she's not allowed to eat but I'll make some sandwiches for you and Alice, along with a few other snacks for the hospital."

"Thanks, love."

Elizabeth kissed his forehead and disappeared back into the kitchen, taking Will's plate with her because he wasn't going to eat the meal. Instead, he went to sit in the living room, putting his feet up on the coffee table as he picked up the TV remote.

As he flicked through the TV channels, he heard Elizabeth's footsteps going up the stairs, a bedroom door opened and two minutes later, the door closed and her footsteps were heard coming down the stairs once more.

"Rose is still asleep; I think school is taking it out of her." Elizabeth commented, sitting down next to him as she came into the living room.

"Enough that her three in the morning wake up calls have stopped." Will replied, amusingly.

Elizabeth laughed lightly as Will settled on watching Top Gear and wrapped an arm around her. She settled against his chest and they watched the show in silence, not really interested in what was happening but needing a distraction from what was coming the following day.

ooOoo

The next morning, Will woke up to the alarm clock blaring at four-thirty. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he saw Elizabeth stir in the darkness before she too, sat up in their bed and rubbed the sleep from her own eyes. Switching on the lamp on his bedside table, he gave his wife a brief smile before they both pulled on their dressing gowns and left their bedroom. Once downstairs, they saw that Georgiana was already dressed with her hospital bag on the floor.

Elizabeth headed into the kitchen to make Will some toast and sandwiches whilst Will sat down next to Georgiana on the sofa, both letting out a huge yawn.

"Are you nervous?" Will asked quietly.

Georgiana shook her head.

"I actually feel okay about it all. I just wonder how it's all going to go." Georgiana replied.

"I wish that there was some other way to prevent you from doing this." Will admitted.

Georgiana looked at him, her brown eyes softening as she saw the concern in her brother's. She reached out her hand and squeezed his lightly.

"I'm not a little girl, Will. I know you're worried, I appreciate it, I really do. You've always looked out for me but this is the only way."

"Not necessarily-"

"Will, we've already spent most of this year going through all of dad's options. If he goes on the transplant list, he'll be waiting a long time for a match and he might not get one. Dad doesn't want you to donate because he doesn't want to take more time away from you and Rose and besides, you're only a few weeks away from becoming a father again, you aren't in the best position to donate. And although Alice is a match, they deemed her as unsuitable. There is no other way. It's either I go through with this, which is what I want to do, or leave dad to start planning the end of his days." Georgiana interrupted.

"You're my little sister, it's my job to want to find another way." Will muttered.

Squeezing his hand again, Georgiana wished that there was some way to reassure her brother that everything would be fine; but she knew that she would only be repeating what she and Elizabeth had been telling him for the past few weeks as the operation day came nearer and nearer.

"Will, I know there are a lot of high risks. I know that I could die. But I need dad around and so do you. So does Rose and the baby when he comes."

Will didn't say anything in reply but squeezed her hand back just as Elizabeth came into the room with a plate of toast and a lunchbox full of sandwiches and snacks for him and Alice to eat at the hospital. He quickly ate it and went upstairs to change and get his overnight bag to stay with Richard. When he came back downstairs he saw his wife giving his sister a tight hug, promising to come and visit her at the weekend and that she would keep her fingers crossed for her and Reginald. Georgiana smiled and went to wait by the front door; giving Will and Elizabeth a moment of privacy.

"She'll be fine, she's stronger than you give her credit for." Elizabeth whispered.

Will sighed.

"I know; I can't help but worry." He replied.

"But remember, I'll be here if you need me to come to the hospital." Elizabeth reminded him.

"I know. I'll call you once Georgie's out of surgery."

"Will… it'll be fine."

As she placed her hand on his chest, he knew that she could feel the fast beating of his heart; only this time it wasn't because he was getting married or because he was happy. This time it was because of the worry of the high risks associated with a less common donation surgery and the fear that if the operation went wrong, he might lose the last two members of his immediate family today. Elizabeth moved her arms to wrap around his neck and pulled him down to her; embracing him tightly as if trying to promise him that everything would be alright. It was as if she could feel the tight knot of dread in his stomach, the tight knot that was as if some invisible hand held on to his intestines as hard as they could.

"I love you." Elizabeth whispered in his ear.

"I love you too." He said back.

Placing a kiss to her lips and a muttered goodbye, Will picked up his overnight bag and left the house with Georgiana.

ooOoo

The drive to the hospital in London had been a quiet one. Will had placed the radio on low volume to have something playing in the car whilst Georgiana slept in the back. When they did speak, they talked about things to do once Georgiana was well enough by January, when her liver would have grown back to its original size. Will silently hoped that they would be able to make those plans a reality.

When they had arrived at the hospital, they went straight to the liver treatment centre and booked Georgiana in and were then shown to her room. Will quickly sent a text message to Alice to say that they had arrived and minutes later, Alice wheeled Reginald to Georgiana's room to stay with her until the time came for the surgeons to come and get her. They spoke a bit more until the nurse came into the room to give Georgiana the hospital gown that she was required to wear during the operation. Georgiana slipped into the bathroom to change into the gown as they turned their backs until she came out of the bathroom and slipped into the bed to wait for the surgeons to get her.

"I'll come with you as far as I can." Will promised.

"Thanks, but don't spend the whole time waiting outside. Dr. Knight explained that the nurse would come and find you once it's all over." Georgiana replied.

"Le…Let…y..your…brother…..go…..with…y…you." Reginald stammered.

Will looked at his father, the knot of dread in his stomach tightening even more. His father found it hard to put a sentence together in recent days and he could only hope that after today, the operation would be a success and his father would be better.

But before Georgie could say anything to their father, there was knock on the door. Two surgeons stepped into the room, dressed head to toe in scrubs and announced that it was time to take her down to the operating theatre. Alice and Reginald kissed Georgiana goodbye before leaving the room and Will stood from his chair, keen to keep his promise.

The surgeons took the bed off the brakes and wheeled Georgiana out of the room, with Will holding her hand the entire way down the corridors. Georgiana simply lay on the bed, smiling up at him in reassurance that she wasn't afraid and that she'd see him soon.

"Mr. Darcy, this is as far as you can go." One of the surgeons told him.

Letting go of her hand, Will bent down to place a light kiss to his sister's forehead.

"I love you, big brother." Georgiana whispered, giving him a little smile.

He mouthed the same words back to her, only changing the 'big brother' part for 'little sister' and watched as the two surgeons wheeled her further down the corridor and around a corner until she disappeared completely out of his sight.

ooOoo

He didn't know how he had managed to stay so calm when he had expected to find himself impatient and fidgety with angst. But whilst he felt the angst and impatience as his sister was undergoing her part of the transplant, Will kept himself busy. For the first three hours into Georgiana's operation, he played a card game called cheat with Alice and his father before moving on to a crossword puzzle whilst his father slept and Alice watched The Jeremy Kyle show on the small TV in his father's private room. When midday came, he breathed a sigh of relief, there was only one hour left until Georgiana's operation should come to an end if the operation had gone successfully. Picking up the lunchbox that Elizabeth had packed for him that morning, he opened the lid and offered it to Alice.

"Thank you, Fitzwilliam." Alice smiled, helping herself to a cheese sandwich.

"One hour to go." Will commented, taking a bite of his own.

"Try not to think about it too much, the time will go more slowly if you do." Alice advised.

"I've tried, spending time with dad this morning has helped massively. But she's my sister, Alice, my only sister. If something happens in that operating theatre and I end up losing her…"

"Don't think like that. We were made aware of the high risks that came with this procedure and you were prepared to undergo the operation despite them. So was Georgiana when your father refused to have you as his donor. If something were to happen, it's just one of those things. I'm sorry to make it sound so harsh, but it's true."

"I feel responsible for her, I always have."

"I know you do, she knows you do. But you're doing what any brother would do, you're here waiting for her to get out of surgery."

"And then it's my father's turn and he's hardly in the best shape." William pointed out.

"And again, he was made aware of the risks. He wants to do this so that he can be a better father to you and Georgie. We only have to get through today and then focus on the recovery. In two weeks, if things go well, both your father and Georgie will be home to start their twelve-week home recovery."

"And then dad has to take pills for the rest of his life to stop his body from rejecting Georgie's donation." Will grumbled.

"It's the lesser of two evils isn't it? Think of it like this, wouldn't it be better to have this operation today and take pills for the rest of his life or go on the transplant list without having a donation from you, Georgie or myself and face the possibility of never getting the alarm that a liver is available."

"I suppose…" Will mused, wondering if his father would cope with taking pills every day.

"Don't worry about your father and the pills, I'll look after him." Alice promised.

"I know you will, you always have." Will replied with a small smile.

Tucking into the rest of the snacks and sandwiches, Alice switched the channel over to watch a new episode of Jeremy Kyle. Just as they got halfway through the new episode and the show went to advertisements, the curtains around Reginald's bed opened, with a nurse stepping inside and closing it behind her.

"Is there news?" Will asked, sitting up straight in his chair.

The nurse nodded, giving an assuring smile.

"Georgiana has been taken into ICU to recover, the operation was successful and carried out with no complications. The consultant will come soon to give you more news but the surgeon sent me on ahead to inform you that your sister's procedure had finished and went well." The nurse confirmed.

His heart beating in relief, Will got up from his seat. He thanked the nurse who left them alone once again and hugged Alice tightly. The feeling of dread that he had felt for his sister going through this operation was gone and replaced with relief that she had at least come out of surgery with no complications; but now it was a case of Georgiana recovering and still at risk during her two-week recovery in the hospital.

"She'll be fine, Fitzwilliam."

Will nodded and sat on the edge of his father's bed; shaking his father awake gently.

"Wassit?" Reginald yawned.

"Dad, the nurse has just come. She said that Georgie made it through the operation with no complications." Will smiled.

Reginald returned the smile. But although one of his family members had made it through their part of the operation, Will now had to face the next six to seven hours waiting to hear if his father would be just as lucky as Georgiana had been.

ooOoo

"Rose, dinner's ready." Elizabeth called.

Taking two plates of sausage and mash into the dining room, Elizabeth heard the stomping footsteps of her four-year-old coming down the stairs and seconds later, Rose appeared at the dining table. It had been a very slow day for her at work and it had been that way because she was constantly thinking about Will and how the operation was going for Reginald and for Georgiana. It was now six-thirty in the evening and having been home with Rose for the last two and a half hours, the time had gone quickly now she was at home. When they had gotten back after the short walk home from school, Elizabeth and Rose had read the book that Rose brought home on a daily basis in her bookbag and then Rose had gone up to play with her toys whilst Elizabeth went through the day's post and did a few little bits of cleaning before starting dinner.

"Mummy, how come daddy isn't here?" Rose asked.

"Remember daddy told you last night that Reg and Aunty Georgie had to go to the hospital today." Elizabeth replied, cutting up Rose's sausages.

"Are they gonna be okay?"

"I'm sure they will be but they'll have to stay in hospital for a little while, okay?"

Rose nodded and the two of them started tucking into their dinners, with Rose telling Elizabeth who she had played with at school and how the day had gone in general. Rose asked a little bit more about if Reginald would get better after his stay in hospital and whilst Elizabeth couldn't predict how the operation was going to go for her father-in-law, she did her best to assure Rose that he would be.

When she had gone on her lunch break earlier in the day, she had received a text message from Will which told her that Georgiana had come out of her part of the transplant with no complications and was starting her recovery in the ICU. She guessed that Reginald's operation would be ending soon and she hoped that Wil was fine at the hospital and a part of her found herself hoping that Reginald would pull through with no complications. Ever since he had apologised for his actions five years ago, she had remained civil towards Reginald for Will and Rose's benefit. She could see the bond that Rose was developing with her father-in-law and knowing that the transplant came with such high risks, she hoped that he would be okay afterwards because she knew that both Rose and her husband would be devastated if they lost Reginald.

It wasn't long before Rose had finished her dinner and got down from the table just as Elizabeth took their plates out to the kitchen and placed them in the sink. As she turned on the hot tap and squirted some washing up liquid on to the plates, she felt a vibration in her pocket. Pulling her phone out of her back pocket, she clicked the answer button.

"Hey, how's everything?" Elizabeth asked.

"Georgie's stable but she's still ventilated and fed through tubes and will be for a few days after the operation but the consultant is happy with how she appears to be so far. My father's just got out of surgery." Will replied, tiredness present in his tone of voice.

"And? How is he?"

"He's going to be fine. Surprisingly, he made it through with no complications despite how ill he was but obviously, he's still at high risk of pneumonia, developing a blood clot and his body could reject the new liver whilst he's in ICU." Will explained.

"Oh Will. That's great that he made it through." Elizabeth said happily.

"I know. You honestly have no idea how relieved I am right now." Will said into the phone.

"Okay, take it easy. Will I see you tomorrow?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yes. Alice and I are staying with Richard tonight but then we'll be back in Meryton tomorrow. Take it easy Lizzy, I love you, Rose and our baby boy." Will said.

"We love you too, Will. Goodnight."

"Goodnight Lizzy."

Hanging up the phone, Elizabeth headed upstairs to tell Rose that her aunt and grandfather were going to be okay.


	35. Chapter 35

In the near month since his father and sister had undergone the liver transplant, Will was now helping Reginald and Georgiana adjust to life again as they slowly recovered from the procedure. Georgiana had been moved to a high priority ward where Will had paid for her to have her own private room and after being looked after by the liver specialist team, was well enough to start her home recovery. As Georgiana had been discharged, Alice and Will agreed that because walking up and down the stairs at his house would be too strenuous for her and may burst her stitches, Georgiana had temporarily moved into the flat where Alice had been living with Reginald for the best part of the year. Alice was happy to give up her bedroom for Georgiana whilst she slept on the sofa to care for his little sister. His father, however, had a much longer stay in hospital. Whilst Reginald had come out of the operation and into ICU with no complications, his father had to stay in hospital a week longer due to getting a small infection after the surgery and had suffered a high fever.

The doctors managed to get the infection under control and soon it had gone completely but it had meant that his father had to stay longer in ICU to be kept under close observation. Whilst his father had an extended weeks stay in ICU, the nursing team he had hired were coming to check over Georgiana and assist Alice in household chores to give Alice a little bit of extra help. When the nursing team were finished for the day, Alice would bring Georgiana to the house to visit him and Elizabeth.

Elizabeth was now only three days away from her due date and had started maternity week the week before when school broke up for the half-term week. His wife had been so sure that she was going to have the baby before her due date like she had with Rose, but so far their baby boy had been content to stay put inside his mother's belly. Being so close to her due date had made Elizabeth quite irritable. She could only manage a few hours of sleep each night because she felt so uncomfortable and sore. But they had tried old tricks that were sworn to help bring labour on, with them eating spicy curries for dinner and taking long walks after they had dropped Rose off at school in the mornings but so far, nothing had happened.

It was during that night, at two o'clock in the morning, when Will felt himself being shaken awake from a deep sleep.

"Will…Will…wake up!" Elizabeth said sharply.

Sitting up and rubbing his eyes, he felt that the bedsheets were wet through.

"What's up?" Will yawned.

"My waters broke." Elizabeth replied.

Going into panic mode, Will leapt from the bed. He immediately pulled out a pair of jogging bottoms and got into them before pulling the already packed hospital bag out of the wardrobe. Stopping in his tracks, Elizabeth grabbed hold of his hands and started to breathe deeply as she squeezed his hand. Talking to her softly, he told her that everything was going to be okay and she was doing really well. Once the contraction was over, Elizabeth got out of bed to change into some fresh clothes whilst Will made a call to Mr. Bennet before texting Charles and Alice to let them know that the baby was coming.

"Your dad is on the way." Will said, as Elizabeth came back into the bedroom.

Elizabeth nodded, clutching a sharp hold on his shoulders and began to breathe deeply again. She'd forgotten just how painful the contractions part of childbirth was and knew it would gradually get worse as the labour progressed, which she had a feeling wouldn't be too much longer. Once the contraction stopped, she looked into Will's eyes and gave him a brief smile.

"This is going to be quick." She stated.

"How do you know?" Will asked.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes.

"I just do." She replied, a little annoyed.

She wished that she didn't feel so impatient and on edge but it had been the same last time when she was in labour with Rose. Poor Jane had a lot to put up with during the labour of her niece and now it seemed that William had to be just as patient as Jane had been.

They heard their front door open and her father call out from the bottom of the stairs. Will picked up her hospital bag and her pregnancy notes and the two went downstairs to greet Mr. Bennet.

"Three days before the due date, Lizzy, he's still early." Mr. Bennet smiled.

"Not as early as Rose, I thought he might be." Elizabeth grumbled.

"Remember now you're having the second, all children are different." Mr. Bennet chuckled, giving her a kiss to the forehead.

Elizabeth nodded whilst Will briefly told her father where the things for breakfast were kept and Mr. Bennet assured them both that he and Rose would be fine, and to keep him updated on the labour when they got to Watford General. Saying goodbye, they left their house and climbed into the car and started the thirty-minute journey to the hospital. Will put on his Bluetooth headset and dialled the number of the maternity ward to inform them of their arrival. While her husband was doing this, Elizabeth clutched hold of the handlebar above her head and continued to do the breathing technique that she had learned during her pregnancy with Rose, wishing that the pain would stop. She wanted nothing more than to scream out her frustration and agony but having learned from previous experience of antenatal classes, doing so would only cause more stress to her and the baby. By breathing deeply and focusing on the deep breaths, it would help her to stay calm.

Will ended the phone call and looked at her, taking one hand off the steering wheel to stroke her thigh reassuringly.

"You're doing really good love." Will said softly.

Taking a sharp breath, she glared at him.

"How would you know? You don't have a baby trying to come out of your body!" Elizabeth snapped, feeling another contraction coming on.

"Keep breathing, Lizzy." Will urged, placing his hand back on the wheel.

The rest of the journey happened in the blink of an eye, at least for Elizabeth. She guessed that it was because she was too busy focusing on how close together the contractions were but when she next looked out of her window, she saw that Will had parked directly opposite the main entrance of the hospital and had her hospital bag over his shoulder.

"Just a little walk across the road and into the lifts, then we'll be on the maternity ward." Will said.

Moaning in pain, she unclipped her seatbelt and crouched over; as if trying to stop the pain from spreading. It was in her back, her stomach, her legs and her pelvis and the memories of Rose's delivery came flooding back to her.

"I….can't…." Elizabeth cried, trying to breathe slowly, deeply, in and out again.

The next thing she knew, Will was picking her up in his arms and kicked the car door closed, pressing the lock button on his keys before carrying her across the road to the entrance. Elizabeth continued to cry out in pain, which was definitely getting worse now. The lights inside the hospital were too bright, even inside the lift it was too bright just as the contraction finished and another one started.

"You weren't joking when you said this labour wasn't going to be a long one." Will whispered.

Elizabeth shook her head, not having the energy to speak. She felt too tired to even formulate a response, all she wanted right now was to get the baby out of her and sleep. The lift pinged to the maternity floor and Will carried her out of the lift and round the corner and pressed the button that allowed admissions to the maternity ward.

"Maternity admissions." A voice said through the intercom.

"I called from the car, Elizabeth Darcy." Will replied urgently.

The doors buzzed and Will pulled it open, setting Elizabeth down on her feet as they went to the reception desk.

"So you're in labour, lovely?" the receptionist replied, in a patronising tone.

"No, she's just here for the hell of it." Will snapped, impatiently.

The receptionist said nothing in reply but typed on her keyboard for a few seconds before taking a look over Elizabeth's pregnancy notes.

"Okay, I've alerted one of the midwives' pagers, you'll be seen by Louise. She'll take you both into one of the assessment rooms and do her initial assessment before we take Elizabeth into a delivery suite, if it's found that she's in established labour." The receptionist replied.

"She's in a lot of pain-"

"Well childbirth is painful, Mr. Darcy, most of the ladies who come here are sent home because they are only two centimetres along-"

"I don't give a crap, my wife is in labour-"

"Mr. Darcy, I'm sure you are well aware that the government cuts to the NHS means that maternity have to do things a little differently than we had done in the previous government. We don't have the right amount of midwives, or resources, or beds for that matter to put up every single pregnant woman who isn't as far along as originally thought-"

Whilst Will was arguing with the receptionist, Elizabeth clutched the edge of the desk and started to panic. She could feel pressure in her pelvis and felt the urge to push.

"WILL…" Elizabeth screamed.

Immediately, Will stopped arguing with the midwife and rushed to her side.

"Lizzy…is it the baby…"

In between breaths, she said: "I…need…to….push…"

Will turned back to the receptionist with a nasty glare.

"Get her into a delivery suite. NOW!"

The receptionist looked quite alarmed and called out to the nearest, available midwife. Will saw an available wheelchair just out of the way of the reception desk and grabbed it, sitting Elizabeth in the wheelchair and following the midwife down the corridor and into an available delivery suite. To Elizabeth, this was all a blur. All she could feel was the urge to push and the sharp pains that came with it. She couldn't walk, her legs kept shaking as she tried to get out of the wheelchair by herself and in the end, Will had to lift her out and help her on to the bed. The midwife had to help get her pyjama bottoms off in order to examine her whilst another passed her the gas and air just in case she wanted it.

Following the midwife's instructions, Elizabeth moved from the pillows and grabbed the back of her legs, pushing as hard as she could before she fell backwards on to the pillows. It was only a few seconds that she was pushing again and then repeated. She could hear Will encouraging her, telling her that she only had one more push until their son was born. Leaning up once more, she let out a loud scream as she pushed through the pain and heard the newborn cry of her baby boy.

The midwife cleaned their son up a little bit before placing him in a thick wad of towels and placed him in her arms. Elizabeth could feel the tears falling out of her eyes as she looked down at the bundle of perfection and started to note that her son too, took after his father. The baby, although not a lot of hair, had the dark Darcy curls and William's nose whilst her son had inherited her chin and eye shape.

"He's perfect." Will whispered, kissing her forehead.

"Do you have a name for the baby? Mrs. Darcy?" the midwife asked.

Elizabeth looked up at Will.

"Are you still okay with the name choice?" she asked quietly.

Will nodded.

"Of course I am."

Elizabeth smiled and turned to look at the midwife.

"Tom William Darcy." She stated.

The midwife smiled, and placed some plastic tags around the baby's feet before Elizabeth handed over the baby for William to have a hold. If someone had told her a year ago that she and Will would be welcoming their son into the world, she wouldn't have believed it. The past year and everything that they had been through didn't matter now, all that mattered was seeing Will experience being a father to a newborn baby for the first time in his life; and seeing Will cry and smile with love down at the sleeping baby made her heart swell in joy.

ooOoo

If there was one word that Will could use to describe his life two weeks following Tom's birth, it had to be; tiring. He had been surprised when Elizabeth had been cleaned up after the birth and slept a bit whilst he cradled and fed Tom, that she had suffered no complications from the birth and was free to go home; he had initially thought that women were required to stay in hospital for twenty-four hours at least if they had suffered no complications. So they had arrived home seven hours after Elizabeth had given birth and rested before telling the family members that their little boy had been born. Mr. Bennet had collected Rose from school and had stayed to cook Rose's dinner and have a cuddle with Tom before going back to Longbourn and then Alice had brought Georgiana over for a little visit.

Once they had received visits from both of their families (aside from Lydia and Mrs. Bennet), they had spent the last two weeks adjusting to a new routine. Both he and Elizabeth took it in turns to do the night feeds and they would each take it in turns to walk Rose to school and spend time with their daughter in the evenings so that she didn't feel left out. Elizabeth had various check-ups at the midwife clinic at the GP surgery and was booked in for her six-week postnatal check with Tom.

Alice had managed amazingly with Georgiana's care and Richard had gone to the London hospital every day to keep his father company. Every day that went by since Tom had been born was filled with adjusting to a normal routine and after two weeks, they had managed to find a balance that one night Elizabeth would do Rose's evening routine after school whilst Will saw to the baby and the next night, they would swap roles.

Rose absolutely adored her little brother. She tried to have endless cuddles with Tom after she got in from school and would help out with the feeds during the weekend daytime by holding the bottle and patting Tom's back to burp him whilst Will would carefully place him on his shoulder to be burped. She would help to wash him when Elizabeth gave Tom his bath and even went as far as to put the dirty nappies in the bin and get a fresh one when Tom needed changing.

It was the fifteenth day since Tom had been born. Elizabeth had just gotten back from taking Rose to school and Will had just finished feeding Tom his bottle and had placed him back in his Moses basket to sleep. Last night he had received a phone call from the hospital to say that his father was now well enough to come home after spending nearly six weeks in hospital. Having arranged with Alice that she would pick Reginald up from the hospital, Elizabeth had suggested bringing Reginald over on the way back from London to meet his new grandson.

"Tom's down in his basket, he had the whole feed." Will yawned.

"Do you want to catch up on some sleep?" Elizabeth asked, putting the kettle on to boil.

"Actually…there are other things I would rather do." Will whispered in her ear.

Turning around, Elizabeth raised her eyebrows and giggled as his lips pressed lightly against her own. In the past two weeks, they hadn't really found a lot of time to spend together just the two of them. She felt herself being pressed back against the kitchen counter as one of her husband's hands tangled into her hair and other snaked around her waist before he pressed himself as close as he could to her. The kiss, that had started off slow and tender, soon turned into something a little more passionate as Will teased her tongue with his own, running it along her bottom lip before catching her bottom lip with his teeth and giving it a gentle nip.

Her hands folded into his curly hair, holding tightly as his lips moved from her lips, across her cheek and down alone her jaw. Then she felt him kiss her hotly down her neck, stopping at her pulse point and sucking lightly. Elizabeth giggled and pulled away from him, breathing deeply as she tried to calm herself down.

"What is it?" Will asked.

"I miss it, being intimate with you on a physical level but we can't. Not just yet." Elizabeth replied, playing with his loose curls.

Will pouted.

"I know, the doctor said it could take six weeks postpartum before you may be able to be physical again." He sighed.

Elizabeth nodded.

"Tonight, when Rose is in bed, why don't we order a takeaway and watch a film. We can cuddle up on the sofa after Tom has had his bottle." She suggested.

Will smiled, "That's a great idea."

The sound of the front door knocking interrupted any further contact and conversation between the two of them. Leaving the kitchen, Will went to answer the door whilst Elizabeth pulled out five cups to make everyone a cup of tea. She heard the cheery greetings from Alice and Georgiana, who was recovering well since the operation, and the slightly quieter greeting from Reginald as she heard Alice and Will get the wheelchair over the doorway.

Bringing the tray of tea into the living room, she smiled at Reginald and noticed how well he looked compared to when she had seen him before the operation. Despite the fact that in the near month that the operation had occurred, Reginald no longer looked bruised and tired, his skin was returning to a normal colour instead of have the shade of yellow and he could talk without having any difficulty.

"You look well, Elizabeth." Reginald greeted.

"Thank you, so do you." Elizabeth replied, taking a seat.

Georgiana was sat next to her and Alice as Will helped his father from the wheelchair into the armchair and helped Reginald get more comfortable.

"How do you feel, dad?" Will asked, sitting in the other armchair.

"Better than I did a month ago." Reginald replied.

"Good." Will replied.

"How are you all?" Reginald asked.

Both Will and Elizabeth answered Reginald's question, telling him how the past two weeks since the baby was born had gone for their little family and Reginald requested a hold of the baby and a visit from Rose in the next few days to which they both agreed. Elizabeth watched as Will picked up Tom from his Moses basket and handed him over to his father. Reginald held Tom carefully, looking down at his new grandson with pride and affection that she had never known Reginald Darcy was capable of.

As Elizabeth continued to watch her father-in-law cradle her newborn son and saw a whole new side that had only emerged in Reginald since he was hospitalised at the start of the year. The Reginald who sat before her now was one who was accepting of her and the choices that she and Will made together and absolutely adored his grandchildren. She remembered a conversation that she'd had with Will and it seemed that this version of Reginald was the man who he had been before his wife had died.

It dawned on her just how much had changed in the past year. She had gone from being a single mother, devoting all of her time and effort into raising her daughter and having no time for a relationship to getting back together with the love of her life. Together, they had overcome everything that had bothered them and threatened to tear them apart. They had shown their loved ones, just how much they loved one another by deepening their commitment to each other by buying a house, getting married and having their second child together. She knew in this moment that, even though Reginald had hurt her so badly; he was going to be a devoted grandfather and maybe one day, she could find herself not having even a hint of dislike towards her father-in-law.

* * *

 **A/N:** Last chapter I'm afraid but not the end, the epilogue will come within the next week. I want to say a massive thank you to all of you who have been with me throughout the last twelve months when I began this story and I am terribly sad that it is now coming to an end. However, this isn't the end to the characters within Autumn Changes as I have written a one shot with the same characters set twenty years in the future and will be posted within the next week for those of you who wish to read more on these characters.


	36. Epilogue

**Six Years Later…**

Wiping away a bead of sweat that was falling down his face, Will ran over to where a red, tartan blanket on the grass and to the beautiful brunette who sat on it, cradling their newborn son. It was the hottest August on record and they were making the most of the summer holidays before the children were settled back into school.

"You look knackered." Elizabeth commented.

"I'm getting old." Will complained, sitting on the blanket next to her.

"Three kids to run around after, it will tire you out. But Alice seems to have the energy." Elizabeth laughed.

Will took hold of the newborn baby out of her arms to have a cuddle with him, their little boy who had been born three weeks ago.

"What are the others up to?" Elizabeth asked.

"They were playing with the football but Rose wants to go for a walk."

Elizabeth nodded, getting up from the ground and started to pack away the picnic basket as Will carefully put Henry back into the pram and together they walked over to where Alice was playing with the rest of their children. Rose, now ten, remained the same as she had been six years ago. Their eldest daughter still loved the outdoors and would often be found walking through the Pemberley grounds or in the stables and even walked the dog they had brought for the children, a golden retriever they had called Macey.

Tom was now nearing his sixth birthday in a few months and was the spitting image of his father in every way; having inherited all the Darcy looks but shared Rose's interest in animals, often fighting with his older sister on who got to walk to dog when they went out on family walks. Their youngest daughter, Alice-Jane who preferred to be called 'Ally', had turned four two months ago and was the spitting image of her mother; with only the Darcy curls from her father. Henry Reginald, had been born three weeks ago and as Elizabeth had expected, their youngest son was the spitting image of Tom. Having four children, she felt that their little family was complete now.

"I know that I've asked you a lot, but are you sure that you're okay with everything? Moving to Pemberley full time?" Will asked as he pushed the pram.

Elizabeth nodded, the large manor had enough room for all of them to have their own space.

"It's yours now and the house in Meryton was getting too small with all the children we now have." Elizabeth replied.

"But still…moving away from Meryton and Longbourn…isn't it upsetting?" Will asked.

"A little. I grew up there and I'll miss my dad and Longbourn, but we have to move to Pemberley. Rose is looking forward to starting her riding lessons. Besides, we still have our first home for when we go back to visit."

"I just feel like I'm asking a lot, uprooting our family away from everything. You having to quit and look for a new job. Moving away from Charles, Jane and the girls."

Elizabeth smiled.

"Will, there is a lot that we'll miss. Of course our kids will miss not being so close to Amelie, Hannah and Megan, they have a close bond with their Bingley cousins. But they won't miss a bitter grandmother and an aunt that never bothers."

In the past six years, a lot had changed. Mr. Bennet had a close bond with all four Darcy children and even his three grandchildren from Jane and Charles. Mary had graduated from university and got a job as a part-time music teacher and had an evening job as part of the orchestra at a theatre in Watford, working exclusively for the theatre and had fallen in love with a violin player named Penny; the two had gotten married a year ago and lived in a one bedroom flat in Watford with no plans to have children. Kitty was still in a relationship with Denny, both having finished university and had gone travelling. Lydia, on the other hand, still had no idea what to do with her life. She had failed her last year of sixth form and had worked in various restaurants and retail stores ever since, never settling down into one job. Lydia still lived at Longbourn with their parents and Mrs. Bennet refused to have anything to do with her Darcy grandchildren due to the fallout with Elizabeth six years previously. Elizabeth had tried on many occasions to reach out to her mother but Fran Bennet was never interested in apologising and burying the hatchet. Georgiana on the other hand, had met someone when she had started university at the age of nineteen, a man named Chris and they had married once they had finished and Georgiana had given birth to their child a year ago.

"You have a point there." Will said.

They finally reached the children who had been kicking a football around on the grass in Hyde Park. Alice Reynolds, or now Alice Darcy, had become the surrogate grandmother that their children had never known in Mrs. Bennet.

"Shall we go for a walk?" Elizabeth suggested.

The children nodded enthusiastically. With Ally getting a piggyback from Rose and Tom wanting one from his father. Will stopped pushing the pram with little Henry inside and helped his son up on his back.

"Dad, let's have a race." Rose said, grinning from ear to ear.

"Rosie, I don't think-"

"What's the matter? Getting too old, Fizz?" Rose asked cheekily.

Will grinned and chased after his daughters as they ran on ahead. Elizabeth rolled her eyes and laughed as she took over the pushing of the pram and walked at a slow pace with Alice.

"To think that he missed out on those three years with Rose at the beginning, you wouldn't think it now." Alice smiled.

"Definitely not. They have such a unique bond, he does with all of our children."

"He's very much the devoted father. I can't thank the two of you enough, for what you've done for me over the past six months."

Elizabeth turned to face the woman, now aged sixty-four, and smiled sadly. Alice Reynolds and Reginald Darcy had gotten married seven months after Tom was born and had lived happily at Pemberley, with Alice retiring as the housekeeper because of their relationship. Reginald had lived up to his promise, devoting his life after the transplant to being a better father and a devoted grandfather. Reginald had lived a happier life than he had done seven years ago and had lived to see three grandchildren born by William and one grandchild by Georgiana, a girl that Georgiana had called Annie.

"Don't be silly, Alice. You're family." Elizabeth stated.

"Only by marriage. I suppose I have been quite lucky although I have no children of my own. I was married to my first husband for thirty-five years and I never thought I would marry again after I lost my James. But I still had Pemberley, I still had my friends there and I still had the Darcys. I treated Fitzwilliam and Georgiana as my own and I cared very deeply for Reginald."

"He really did change in those last six years with us."

Alice smiled and nodded.

"He got given a second chance to be the man he always was, even underneath all the scheming and controlling, I always knew the real him was there and needed a chance to emerge. In the end, he died peacefully and content." Alice sighed sadly.

"Alice, you may not be related by blood but Will and Georgie think of you as a second mother and the children absolutely love you. You're family and family look after one another and we want you to live with us at Pemberley, to carry on being a grandmother." Elizabeth replied.

"You have no idea how much that means to me, Lizzy." Alice smiled.

The two women shared a smile before they carried on walking. The last six months had been devastating after Reginald had been told that despite having not touched a drop of alcohol in six years, the liver that he had been donated from Georgiana was starting to be rejected by his body. Due to his age and another donation not recommended, both from the waiting list for donation and from a live donor, Reginald had been told that his liver would eventually stop working and would lead to kidney failure and other organs shutting down. They had inquired whether there were stronger doses of his anti-rejection medication that he could take but Dr. Knight had told them that there was nothing that they could do. Reginald had spent the last eight months of his life spending most of his time with his grandchildren, children and his wife, making final arrangements for his will and resting. During the time that Reginald had left to live, Will, Elizabeth and their children spent every weekend at Pemberley to make the most of their time left with him and Reginald had been thrilled when Elizabeth had announced her fourth pregnancy and also sad at the thought that he may not get to meet his new grandchild. And although Reginald had been right in his prediction of dying before Henry had been born, Will requested that they honour his father's memory by having 'Reginald' as their new son's middle name.

"I think I have a good idea, Alice. You've done more for my children than my own mother has."

They had nearly caught up with Will and the children on the bridge when they saw that Will had stopped, a couple with a young boy with them.

"What was that game you were playing?" the young boy asked Rose.

"It's called Pooh sticks, you grab a stick, any size, and go to the side of the bridge that the water is flowing down and throw the stick into the water. Then you run to the other side of the bridge and whoever's stick comes out first, is the winner." Rose explained.

"Mummy, can I have a go?" the young boy asked.

As Elizabeth and Alice arrived where Will was standing, the blonde haired woman looked down at her son and nodded.

"Of course you can, Billy." The woman replied.

The little boy beamed happily and ran along with Elizabeth's children to find a stick each. Elizabeth's eyes met the blue ones of the woman she hadn't seen in seven years, a woman who once wanted to destroy her in order to lay claim to her husband.

"Eleanor Clarence." Elizabeth said stiffly.

"Eleanor Marks now, this is my husband, William Marks." Eleanor replied.

Elizabeth bit her tongue to stop herself from laughing. Although Eleanor's husband had no resemblance to her own, she found it rather funny that her once rival would settle for a man named William after everything that had happened.

"Eleanor was just apologising for her behaviour towards us all those years ago." Will said, his tone impatient.

Eleanor nodded.

"I was a selfish person back then and after I was thrown out of Netherfield at Charles and your sister's wedding, I did some reflecting and accepted that I wasn't going to be Mrs. Darcy. I met William and we had our son Billy-"

"Which is also short for William, I'm guessing?" Elizabeth asked.

Eleanor nodded again.

"And are you still in touch with Caroline and Wickham?" Will asked.

Eleanor shook her head.

"No, I haven't seen either of them since. Wickham sort of vanished into thin air and as for Caroline, the last I heard she was on her second divorce, penniless and childless but still as bitter and selfish." Eleanor replied.

The children, having all found a stick each, dropped their sticks into the water before running to the other side of the bridge to watch whose stick would emerge first. They watched as Ally cheered that her stick was the one to win and all of the children walked back over to where their parents were stood.

"Daddy, Daddy, I won!" Ally boasted with pride.

Will bent down and smiled at his daughter, lifting her into his arms.

"Well done Alice." Will smiled.

"Mum, can I have another go?" Billy asked.

"Please dad, can we have another go?" Tom asked.

Will looked to Elizabeth and she shook her head.

"Sorry Tom, mum says no."

"Aww Mum!" Tom complained.

"Darling, we have to get back to the house, Henry needs his feed soon." Elizabeth stated.

"Well, it was nice seeing you. Let's go Billy." Eleanor said.

With the complaining from Billy, Elizabeth watched as Eleanor, her husband and child walked in the opposite direction of the bridge. A long time ago, she had detested Eleanor and while this was the first, and she hoped the last meeting, between the two women, it was nice to hear that her husband's ex-girlfriend had apologised to Will for her actions all those years ago and that the woman had found happiness and had a family of her own. Hearing the news about Caroline didn't surprise her, however.

As the Darcys started to walk out of Hyde Park and begin the thirty-minute journey back to the Chelsea house that was now Georgiana's, Elizabeth came to the conclusion that if people really wanted to change, then they could. Reginald certainly had, he had tried to make amends for his past behaviour and had spent every day since Charles and Jane's wedding reception trying to change and be a better person and if what Eleanor had said was true, then she must have changed to be a wife and mother to someone who could give her love in return. But in the case of her mother, Lydia and Caroline Bingley, it was evident that they never were going to change and it was simply down to not wanting to.

But none of those people mattered to her now. The father-in-law that she had come to admire for wanting to be better was gone and they were now grieving as a family and about to move their little family to Pemberley on a full time basis. This transition was the next step for them and she knew that as the summer turned into autumn, the autumn would definitely bring more changes to the Darcy family

 **The End**

* * *

 **A/N:** So that's the epilogue, I hope you liked it. Sadly, this definitely is the end of Autumn Changes now and once again, thank you for reading, reviewing and following this story since I started it a year ago. I will miss writing this but as I've said, the one shot that follows this story will be posted later today, it'll be called Slipping Through My Fingers. A new story that I've been writing alongside Autumn Changes will be posted next week and will be called A Hidden Kindness if you have any further interest in where I take the P&P characters.


	37. Chapter 37

**Dear Readers,**

A fanfiction user by the name of jewelcrystal has recently accused me of theft. Apparently Autumn Changes is the exact copy of a taiwanese TV show called Autumn's Concerto and apparently I have copied this exact plot line to this TV series when I had no idea that it even existed.

So, I would like to state that I DO NOT STEAL OTHER THINGS. If there are any similarities between my story and this TV show then they are purely coincidental. But I feel very insulted and hurt that I have been accused like this and this has unfortunately knocked my confidence thanks to this user.

I do not appreciate being made out to be a thief. I have never seen this show and nor do I watch Taiwanese TV series because I do not have access to these shows. I am a UK citizen and the only shows I have access to are ones made in my own country and those that I watch on my netflix account.

the link to the wikipedia page for Autumn's Concerto is as follow: wiki/Autumn%27s_Concerto so I'm asking for you loyal readers to tell me if my story is the same as this TV series or not. If it is, then I will permanently delete the story and all of the associated stories I have written alongside Autumn Changes.

Thanks,

Accio Lumos


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